Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 77.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 86,882 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 37,959 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $50,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after purchasing an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,793,478,000 after purchasing an additional 17,948 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 63,223 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,624,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $990,046,000 after purchasing an additional 4,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,152,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $656,976,000 after purchasing an additional 100,939 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on NOC shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Argus set a $785.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $702.63.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:NOC opened at $544.73 on Friday. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $472.02 and a 52 week high of $774.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $603.63 and a 200 day moving average of $631.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of -0.12.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company had revenue of $9.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.06 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $2.47 dividend. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is 30.92%.

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.