Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Stock Position Lowered by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,267 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 63 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 191,602 shares in the company, valued at $117,835,230. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the sale, the director owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $654.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $710.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $652.76.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $625.23 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $640.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $572.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $574.60. The firm has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.82%.The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.24%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.