Cooper Financial Group Decreases Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Cooper Financial Group lowered its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,425.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,001,198 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $512,624,000 after buying an additional 935,554 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $369,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.6% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 98.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $460,355,000 after buying an additional 446,940 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $542.00 target price (down previously from $580.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna boosted 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, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price target (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $588.85.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $605.72 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $610.85. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $583.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $527.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.35 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.36 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.000-25.400 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 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.