California State Teachers Retirement System Has $53.86 Billion Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System dramatically increased its Northrop Grumman stake by 50,207.8% to 105.7 million shares, representing approximately 74.45% of the company and a reported value of $53.86 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $661.30, although several firms recently lowered their targets or retained neutral ratings.
• Northrop Grumman beat quarterly earnings expectations with $7.68 EPS and $10.88 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $2.47, or $9.88 annualized, yielding about 1.9%.

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 50,207.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,745,489 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 105,535,292 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 74.45% of Northrop Grumman worth $53,857,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 worth $41,914,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,793,478,000 after acquiring an additional 17,948 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,497 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,853 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,125,139 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,781,986,000 after purchasing an additional 128,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 115,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $66,000,000 after purchasing an additional 8,706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $620.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $661.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,299.29. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $513.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $544.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $598.31. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $479.02 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The company has a market capitalization of $72.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11.

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 firm had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%.The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.15 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is currently 31.39%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.

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