Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its Northrop Grumman stake by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 21,500 shares and ending with 372,645 shares valued at about $212.5 million.
• Northrop Grumman reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with EPS of $6.14 versus estimates of $6.06 and revenue of $9.88 billion, up 4.4% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $2.47 per share from $2.31, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $702.63.

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 372,645 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 21,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.26% of Northrop Grumman worth $212,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after acquiring an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,958,151,000 after acquiring an additional 970,029 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 4.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 128,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,658 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $990,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $552.05 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $481.28 and a fifty-two week high of $774.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $592.82 and a 200-day moving average of $630.95. The stock has a market cap of $78.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of -0.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm had revenue of $9.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.06 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $765.00 to $745.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Northrop Grumman from $660.00 to $620.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.63.

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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