Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI significantly reduced its stake in Northrop Grumman by 92.4%, leaving the firm with only 1,229 shares valued at $614,000.
• Other major investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP, increased their holdings in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter of this year.
• Northrop Grumman reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $7.11 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a 1.3% year-over-year revenue increase.

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 92.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,229 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,792,479,000 after purchasing an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 974,633 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,241,144 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,147,489,000 after purchasing an additional 210,500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $995,443,000 after purchasing an additional 210,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,115,625 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $571,211,000 after purchasing an additional 119,693 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $542.00 price target (down previously from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (up from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $588.85.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $604.89 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $426.24 and a 12-month high of $610.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $584.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $528.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.84 by $0.27. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.36 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.000-25.400 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Northrop Grumman's 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.

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