Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,777 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,261 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $8,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 401,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $229,033,000 after buying an additional 293,909 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $137,280,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 26.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,051,226 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $640,534,000 after acquiring an additional 221,431 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,835,097,000 after buying an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1,086.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 192,583 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $109,813,000 after acquiring an additional 176,352 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $765.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Vertical Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $688.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $556.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of -0.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $636.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $632.39. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52-week low of $468.29 and a 52-week high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $0.08. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.80% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business had revenue of $9.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 27.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $2.47 dividend. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 28.92%.

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.