Bank of America Corp DE Has $1.80 Billion Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Bank of America reduced its Northrop Grumman stake by 3.4% in the first quarter, selling 92,901 shares and retaining 2.64 million shares valued at approximately $1.80 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 83.4% of NOC.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $659, although several firms recently lowered their targets. Northrop Grumman shares opened at $534.49, well below their 12-month high of $774.
• Northrop Grumman beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $7.68 EPS and $10.88 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 5.1% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $2.47 per share, producing a 1.8% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,644,860 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 92,901 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.86% of Northrop Grumman worth $1,804,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NOC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 61,436 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $41,914,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after acquiring an additional 209,135 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 111,927 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $63,822,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,149,478 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,793,478,000 after purchasing an additional 17,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,497 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $628.00 to $587.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $550.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $659.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $534.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $479.02 and a twelve month high of $774.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $534.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $620.56. The firm has a market cap of $75.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of -0.10.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 31.39%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.