Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 588,520 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.6%, acquiring an additional 588,520 shares, bringing its total ownership to 13,266,301 shares, valued at around $6.79 billion.
• Northrop Grumman's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with an EPS of $7.11, exceeding the consensus estimate of $6.84, and reported revenues of $10.35 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $2.31 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous dividend of $2.06, with an annualized yield of 1.6%.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,266,301 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 588,520 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.22% of Northrop Grumman worth $6,792,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,517,425 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after buying an additional 461,307 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $952,962,000 after buying an additional 450,858 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 337.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 482,112 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $226,250,000 after buying an additional 371,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4,948.8% in the first quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 289,801 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $148,381,000 after buying an additional 284,061 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $589.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.15. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $594.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $518.56 and a 200-day moving average of $496.63. 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 posted 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. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 34.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Robert J. Fleming sold 3,500 shares of the business's 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 $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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Roshan S. Roeder sold 991 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $490.00, for a total value of $485,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,310. This represents a 75.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,536 shares of company stock valued at $8,306,857 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NOC. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $586.79.

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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