State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,235 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 511 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $23,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 974,633 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 935,554 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at $369,205,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 588,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 98.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $460,355,000 after acquiring an additional 446,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $605.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $594.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $540.62. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $640.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $86.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.10.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 33.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on NOC. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $650.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $642.73.

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.