Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Holdings Lifted by RFG Advisory LLC

Key Points

• RFG Advisory increased its Northrop Grumman position by 379% in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 83.4% of the company’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $662.25, although individual targets range from $533 to $745.
• Northrop Grumman exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with $7.68 in EPS and $10.88 billion in revenue, and announced a quarterly dividend of $2.47 per share, representing a 1.9% yield.

RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 379.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,224 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $1,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,441 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $19,069,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 37.5% in the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,272 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.7% in the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,299,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.1% during the second quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $20,810,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $704.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $662.25.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NOC stock opened at $518.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $543.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $592.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of -0.11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $479.02 and a fifty-two week high of $774.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.15 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and delivers systems, platforms and technologies for government and commercial customers. Its activities include the design and production of military aircraft, autonomous systems, spacecraft, launch vehicles, missile-defense systems, command-and-control networks, cyber solutions, sensors and other mission-critical technologies.

The company serves the U.S. Department of Defense, other U.S. government agencies and international customers.

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