T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Purchases 935,554 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,425.2% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 935,554 shares and now holds over 1 million shares valued at approximately $512 million.
• Northrop Grumman reported earnings of $7.11 per share for Q2, surpassing analysts' expectations of $6.84, along with a 1.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with price targets ranging from $480 to $625, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on multiple recent upgrades.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 1,425.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,001,198 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 935,554 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.70% of Northrop Grumman worth $512,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 55,522.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,520,158 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $778,336,000 after buying an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.4% in the first 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. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $369,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,030,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $952,962,000 after purchasing an additional 450,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $542.00 price objective (down from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $586.79.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE NOC traded down $5.2310 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $591.9790. 616,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 736,066. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $541.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $504.45. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $600.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total transaction of $1,770,195.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 1,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,041.79. The trade was a 65.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 201,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.