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

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 735,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 11,479 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $419,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,835,097,000 after purchasing an additional 209,135 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,996,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,825,696,000 after purchasing an additional 63,223 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $990,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 26.7% in 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. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 486,439 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $296,397,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $556.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of -0.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $633.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $632.65. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $468.29 and a 12-month high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.88 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.06 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NOC. Bank of America increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $660.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Sunday, April 26th. Argus set a $785.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $815.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $704.74.

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.