Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) CAO Michael Hardesty Sells 147 Shares

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) CAO Michael Hardesty sold 147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $732.98, for a total value of $107,748.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,850,774.50. The trade was a 5.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock traded down $14.14 on Friday, reaching $722.73. The stock had a trading volume of 743,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,273. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $639.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $602.75. The stock has a market cap of $102.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.04. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $437.83 and a fifty-two week high of $745.55.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.39 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $491,985,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,958,151,000 after buying an additional 970,029 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 56,920.9% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 421,955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $240,603,000 after buying an additional 421,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,933,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,466,472,000 after buying an additional 308,680 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOC has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $623.00 price objective (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $693.60.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.