Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Sells 2,422 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lowered its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,422 shares during the period. Northrop Grumman comprises about 2.0% of Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 209,135 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 9,924 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $1,987,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,958 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $90,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 17,948 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on NOC. Wall Street Zen cut Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $765.00 to $745.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $815.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.63.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $499.08 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $487.68 and a one year high of $774.00. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $559.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $628.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of -0.12.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.80%.The company had revenue of $9.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.