Diversified Trust Co. Boosts Stock Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Diversified Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 200.0% in the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 48 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $25,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NOC. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on Northrop Grumman from $777.00 to $778.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $623.00 price objective (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $693.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.82, for a total value of $14,176,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 171,602 shares in the company, valued at $121,634,929.64. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the sale, the director owned 4,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,037.56. This represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NOC opened at $681.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.03. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $450.13 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $705.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $625.92.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.26. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 25.57%. The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.72%.

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.