Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 26th, 2023

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC – Get Rating) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,717 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. EWG Elevate Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Capital Directions Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 81.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on NOC. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. 22nd Century Group reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $580.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $509.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $454.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Northrop Grumman Co. has a twelve month low of $429.10 and a twelve month high of $556.27. The stock has a market cap of $68.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $450.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $468.97.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The aerospace company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.16 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.19 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.61% and a net margin of 12.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 22.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 26th. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 24.20%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. The company's Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems in the United States and internationally. 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.