Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 306,572 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $156,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Karpus Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 380.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 48 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $653.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $666.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 target price on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $661.30.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $545.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $542.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $604.78. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 1 year low of $479.02 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The company has a market cap of $77.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of -0.11.

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. The company had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

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

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.