ING Groep NV Raises Stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 70.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,238 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $16,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $7,835,097,000 after buying an additional 209,135 shares during the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth approximately $2,986,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 111,927 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $63,822,000 after acquiring an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,987,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 158,958 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $90,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $742.00 to $628.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $815.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.63.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOC opened at $544.73 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $603.63 and a 200 day moving average of $631.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of -0.12. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12-month low of $472.02 and a 12-month high of $774.00.

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

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.92%.

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.