Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) CEO Kathy Warden Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) CEO Kathy Warden sold 20,000 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.82, for a total transaction of $14,176,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 171,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,634,929.64. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $685.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $618.32 and a 200 day moving average of $596.73. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $715.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $11.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 31.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NOC. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $727.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $765.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $623.00 price target (down previously from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Argus set a $785.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $693.60.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $7,835,097,000 after buying an additional 209,135 shares during the period. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,457,274,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 63,223 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $990,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.