Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Purchased by OLD Second National Bank of Aurora

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $4,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,439 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,564,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,551,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Northrop Grumman

Here are the key news stories impacting Northrop Grumman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings beat and guidance raise: Northrop Grumman reported adjusted earnings of $7.89 per share, well above the $7.18 consensus estimate. Management raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $29.35-$29.75, compared with the $28.97 analyst consensus, while revenue guidance of $43.8 billion-$44.3 billion remained broadly in line with expectations. NOC’s Q3 Earnings Call Highlights 2027 Growth and B-21 Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Record backlog supports future revenue: Backlog reached approximately $109.6 billion-$110 billion, up about 20% year over year. Investors viewed the backlog as evidence of strong demand across Northrop’s defense and space businesses, including the B-21 program. Management is targeting 5%-7% sales growth in 2027. Q3 2026 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved: Robert W. Baird upgraded NOC from Hold to Outperform and raised its price target to $675 from $550. BNP Paribas Exane also lifted its target to $600 and maintained an Outperform rating, citing the “beat and raise” quarter and longer-term growth prospects. Northrop Grumman Analysts Boost Their Forecasts
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor focus remains on execution: The earnings discussion highlighted multi-year growth opportunities and strong defense demand, while the AUSA 2026 interview provided additional management visibility. However, RBC only raised its target to $550 and kept a Sector Perform rating, indicating that some analysts view the favorable outlook as already reflected in the shares.
• Negative Sentiment: Spending and margin risks persist: Higher capital expenditures, B-21 investment requirements, margin pressure, and paused buybacks could limit near-term cash returns and create execution challenges despite the strong backlog. Are RTX Corporation and Northrop Grumman Ready to Break Out?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on NOC. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $694.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price target on Northrop Grumman and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $641.83.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $552.82 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $470.06 and a twelve month high of $774.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $521.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of -0.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.51 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 31.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the sale, the director owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.