Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Director Sells $65,029.40 in Stock

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Director Mark Welsh III sold 95 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,037.56. This represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC traded up $20.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $705.31. The company had a trading volume of 706,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,162,997. The firm has a market cap of $100.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $601.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $590.52. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $426.24 and a 52 week high of $707.66.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.26. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $491,985,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,933,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,466,472,000 after purchasing an additional 308,680 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 401,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $229,033,000 after acquiring an additional 293,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at about $137,280,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NOC. 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 research report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $765.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $777.00 to $778.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.79.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.