Apella Capital LLC Increases Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Apella Capital LLC increased its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 279.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,151 shares during the quarter. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,958,151,000 after buying an additional 970,029 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 56,920.9% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 421,955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $240,603,000 after buying an additional 421,215 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 272.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 401,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $229,033,000 after buying an additional 293,909 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $137,280,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 209,135 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $815.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $765.00 to $745.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $806.00 to $745.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.63.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $499.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of -0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $559.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $628.63. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $487.68 and a 52-week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $9.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.06 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. Northrop Grumman’s 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.