Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 306,572 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.22% of Northrop Grumman worth $156,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,041 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 111,927 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $63,822,000 after acquiring an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,149,478 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,793,478,000 after acquiring an additional 17,948 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 70.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,958 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $90,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $661.30.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NOC stock opened at $545.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of -0.11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $479.02 and a 12-month high of $774.00. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $542.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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