Ethic Inc. Purchases 1,567 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation by 22.7% during Q1, now holding a total of 8,473 shares valued at approximately $4.35 million.
• CEO Kathy J. Warden recently sold 7,500 shares, which reduced her ownership by 3.59%, while other executives also sold shares, indicating insider trading activity.
• Northrop Grumman reported earnings of $7.11 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has declared a quarterly dividend increase to $2.31.

Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 22.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,473 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 790.0% in the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 89 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $542.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $586.79.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $1,770,195.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $924,041.79. This trade represents a 65.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 7,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $1.2990 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $586.1190. 470,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 882,543. The company has a market cap of $83.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $535.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $502.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $594.68.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The company's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.36 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.000-25.400 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.