Verus Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 13.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,723 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,043 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 61,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,914,000 after purchasing an additional 4,041 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after purchasing an additional 209,135 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.7% during the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $1,793,478,000 after purchasing an additional 17,948 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,497 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $815.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $659.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $543.87 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $534.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $620.03. The company has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of -0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.17. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a one year low of $479.02 and a one year high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%.The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

Northrop Grumman Company 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.