Legal & General Group Plc Sells 11,479 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Northrop Grumman stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,479 shares and ending with 735,106 shares valued at about $419.2 million.
• Northrop Grumman beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $6.14 EPS on $9.88 billion in revenue, while also guiding FY 2026 EPS at 27.4 to 27.9.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $2.47 per share from $2.31, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $704.74.

Legal & General Group Plc cut its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,106 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 11,479 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.52% of Northrop Grumman worth $419,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after buying an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,996,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,825,696,000 after buying an additional 63,223 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,658 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $990,046,000 after buying an additional 4,844 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 26.7% during the third 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 buying an additional 221,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 486,439 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $296,397,000 after buying an additional 28,059 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $806.00 to $745.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $765.00 to $745.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $660.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Finally, Argus set a $785.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $704.74.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $556.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average price is $633.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $632.65. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $468.29 and a fifty-two week high of $774.00. The company has a market cap of $78.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of -0.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.80%.The firm had revenue of $9.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $2.47 dividend. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.92%.

Northrop Grumman 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.

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