Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Position in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 22.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,269,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,234,149 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $2,601,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,531,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,245,066,000 after buying an additional 109,941 shares during the period. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,457,274,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,996,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,825,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,223 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 221,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 856,688 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $428,327,000 after purchasing an additional 9,860 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $752.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Vertical Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $688.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $765.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $693.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 2,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.61, for a total value of $1,575,226.29. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,661.11. This represents a 93.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total value of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,037.56. This represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,431 shares of company stock worth $21,969,404. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $733.88 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $450.13 and a fifty-two week high of $774.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $691.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $619.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $104.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.03.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

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.