Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,145 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,546 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $27,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 61,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,914,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,835,097,000 after purchasing an additional 209,135 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 111,927 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $63,822,000 after purchasing an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,149,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,793,478,000 after purchasing an additional 17,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 4,497 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NOC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.5%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $550.37 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a twelve month low of $479.02 and a twelve month high of $774.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $78.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of -0.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $535.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $621.55.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

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.