Syntax Research Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Syntax Research Inc. cut its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,924 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $1,987,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $806.00 to $745.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $628.00 to $587.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $698.37.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NOC stock opened at $520.73 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of -0.10. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $489.52 and a 12-month high of $774.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $546.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $627.27.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.06 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.95 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $2.47 dividend. This is a boost from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

Northrop Grumman 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.