Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC reduced its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 77.4%, now owning just 1,139 shares valued at $583,000.
• Institutional investors collectively own 83.40% of Northrop Grumman, with substantial increases in stakes from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.
• Northrop Grumman recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $7.11, exceeding expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $2.31 per share, reflecting a 1.5% dividend yield.

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 77.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,139 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 3,907 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,792,479,000 after purchasing an additional 588,520 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,631,390,000 after buying an additional 974,633 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,241,144 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,147,489,000 after buying an additional 210,500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,944,186 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $995,443,000 after buying an additional 210,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $778,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on NOC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $625.00 price target (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $557.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $586.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was 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 owned 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,819,575.04. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,964,243.54. The trade was a 3.59% 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 worth $8,306,857 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC traded down $5.2310 on Friday, reaching $591.9790. 616,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,115. The firm has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.15. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $541.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $504.95. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $600.99.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.