Commerce Bank Sells 1,775 Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Commerce Bank reduced its position in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,897 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,775 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank owned about 0.12% of Northrop Grumman worth $88,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 367.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,516 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,487.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 16,338 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,169,000 after purchasing an additional 15,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,865 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,432,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NOC. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $653.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $661.30.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $552.29 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $541.45 and a 200-day moving average of $610.05. The company has a market capitalization of $78.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of -0.11. 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 52-week low of $479.02 and a 52-week high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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 firm earned $8.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.39%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 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.