Narwhal Capital Management Grows Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Key Points

• Narwhal Capital Management increased its stake in Northrop Grumman (NOC) by 20% in Q4 to 19,708 shares, worth about $11.24 million.
• Several large institutions also boosted positions—Vanguard owns ~13.74M shares (~$7.84B), BNY lifted its stake 26.7%, and Holocene opened a ~$137.3M position—leaving institutional ownership at 83.4%.
• Insiders sold 22,431 shares (~$15.9M) over the last 90 days (insider ownership 0.21%), while Northrop posted a quarterly EPS beat, set FY2026 guidance of $27.40–$27.90, and pays a $2.31 quarterly dividend (≈1.6% yield).

Narwhal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,708 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $11,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $137,280,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted 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 worth $640,534,000 after purchasing an additional 221,431 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $7,835,097,000 after buying an additional 209,135 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,086.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 192,583 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $109,813,000 after buying an additional 176,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7,202.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 167,232 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $95,357,000 after buying an additional 164,942 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 2,189 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.61, for a total transaction of $1,575,226.29. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 151 shares in the company, valued at $108,661.11. This trade represents a 93.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,877,037.56. This trade represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 22,431 shares of company stock worth $15,924,404 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.4%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $577.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $82.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $694.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $637.62. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1-year low of $453.01 and a 1-year high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.75 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.80%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.06 EPS. 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 27.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $785.00 target price on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $806.00 to $745.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $727.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.74.

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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