Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $577.01, but opened at $617.88. Northrop Grumman shares last traded at $617.3260, with a volume of 901,231 shares changing hands.

Key Stories Impacting Northrop Grumman

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

• Positive Sentiment: President Trump proposed a dramatic $1.5 trillion 2027 defense budget, which would be a major revenue tailwind for prime contractors like Northrop if enacted; the proposal is driving sector rotation into defense names. Trump proposes massive increase in 2027 defense spending to $1.5T
• Positive Sentiment: Northrop was competitively awarded the Marine Corps MUX TACAIR Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) work teaming its uncrewed capabilities with Kratos’ Valkyrie UAS — a strategic win that strengthens NOC’s leadership in autonomous systems and supports future revenue/backlog. Northrop Grumman to Rapidly Develop Marine Corps CCA with Kratos’ Valkyrie UAS
• Positive Sentiment: Northrop won a ~$94.3M Navy contract for solid rocket motors (SSRM), adding near-term funded work to propulsion and ordnance programs. Northrop Grumman wins $94.3 million Navy contract for rocket motors
• Positive Sentiment: Technical/market commentary shows improved relative-strength and momentum heading into the fourth-quarter earnings season, which can attract momentum and quant-driven buyers. Northrop Grumman Rising Toward New High With Fourth Quarter Earnings Up Next
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks issued mixed, small EPS revisions across several quarters and fiscal years (some trims, some raises), producing modest estimate noise but leaving the FY outlook broadly steady. That injects short-term uncertainty but not a large change to the longer-term consensus. MarketBeat NOC coverage (Zacks estimates)
• Negative Sentiment: President Trump signed an order and publicly said he will block buybacks/dividends for defense firms until production issues are addressed — this directly threatens a key shareholder-return mechanism for Northrop and pressured the stock. Trump signs order to block defense companies from buying back stock until arms production improves
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction to Trump’s warnings sparked selling across defense names in after-hours and intraday trading, amplifying downside pressure on Northrop despite positive contract news. Northrop Grumman Stock Drops After Trump Warns Against Buybacks Over Investment
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Kathy Warden disclosed sales of a few thousand NOC shares in early January; while routine for executives, the timing amid policy headlines can be read negatively by some investors. SEC Form 4 — Kathy J. Warden

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NOC shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 price target on Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $714.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $651.18.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $85.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $569.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $570.54.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.82%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.00 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 33.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.00, for a total value of $1,845,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 191,602 shares in the company, valued at $117,835,230. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,097 shares of company stock valued at $6,099,716 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $491,985,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,933,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,466,472,000 after purchasing an additional 308,680 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth about $137,280,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,051,226 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $640,534,000 after purchasing an additional 221,431 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.