Focus Partners Wealth Increases Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 30.3% in Q3 to 106,954 shares, worth about $65.17 million (≈0.07% of the company).
• Northrop Grumman topped Q earnings and revenue estimates—EPS $7.23 vs $6.97 expected and revenue $11.71B vs $11.61B—and provided FY2026 EPS guidance of 27.40–27.90 (analysts average ~28.05).
• Several analysts have raised price targets (e.g., BTIG to $815, Citi to $781) and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $693.60, while institutional investors own about 83.4% of the stock.

Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,954 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 24,878 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned approximately 0.07% of Northrop Grumman worth $65,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,531,586 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,245,066,000 after buying an additional 109,941 shares in the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth approximately $6,457,274,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,996,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,825,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,223 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,658 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $990,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,051,226 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $640,534,000 after purchasing an additional 221,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOC shares. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $680.00 to $815.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $623.00 price objective (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $693.60.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $736.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $104.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.03. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $450.13 and a twelve month high of $774.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $694.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $620.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company's 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 in the company, valued at $2,877,037.56. This represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 2,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.61, for a total value of $1,575,226.29. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $108,661.11. This represents a 93.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock worth $21,969,404. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report).

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.