Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Trims Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC significantly reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman by 63.1%, down to 121,882 shares valued at approximately $62.41 million.
• In a series of transactions, insider selling included VP Robert J. Fleming and CEO Kathy J. Warden, who sold shares valued at over $5.56 million combined.
• Northrop Grumman's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with $7.11 EPS and revenue of $10.35 billion, showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 1.3%.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 63.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,882 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 208,806 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Northrop Grumman worth $62,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Holderness Investments Co. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 2,005 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.7% in the first quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 13,168 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,742,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,791 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.9% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 327,307 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $167,584,000 after purchasing an additional 29,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 9.5% in the first quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 5,673 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. This trade represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total transaction of $485,590.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 319 shares in the company, valued at $156,310. The trade was a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE NOC traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $585.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 285,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 994,301. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $83.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $533.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $501.74. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $426.24 and a one year high of $594.68.

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

About Northrop Grumman

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.