SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,118 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 117.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 1,208 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 30.7% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 385.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,524 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,393,000 after buying an additional 11,534 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,307,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 50,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,268,000 after buying an additional 9,830 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $437.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13. Northrop Grumman Co. has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The firm has a market cap of $64.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $455.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $458.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Northrop Grumman 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.