Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 463,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 13,627 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Northrop Grumman were worth $282,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% during the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.3% in the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 6.9% in the third quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 278 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 1,375 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 20,000 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.82, for a total value of $14,176,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 171,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,634,929.64. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,037.56. The trade was a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Northrop Grumman

Here are the key news stories impacting Northrop Grumman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Won a $225.1M Naval Air Systems Command contract to develop training materials for the E-130J program, providing immediate revenue and strengthening NOC’s role in airborne training systems. Northrop Grumman Secures a $225M Contract to Aid E-130J Program
• Positive Sentiment: Secured additional U.S. Space Force and Navy contract actions that expand its deep‑space radar and E-130J-related work, extending backlog and revenue visibility. Northrop Grumman Contracts Extend Backlog And Deepen Long Term Defense Ties
• Positive Sentiment: Awarded work to supply aircraft protection systems to Germany, reinforcing export and allied sales momentum. Northrop Grumman to supply aircraft protection systems to Germany
• Positive Sentiment: White House meeting where defense CEOs agreed to markedly ramp production of advanced weaponry — a policy/PR tailwind that implies higher future demand across prime contractors including NOC. Trump says defense CEOs agree to quadruple production of `Exquisite Class’ weaponry
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive: the stock carries an average “Moderate Buy” consensus, supporting investor confidence in shares. Northrop Grumman Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy”
• Neutral Sentiment: Retail investors and market commentators are rotating back into defense names amid geopolitical volatility, a flow that can amplify moves but is fickle. Retail investor buying holds strong
• Negative Sentiment: Pentagon plans to ban Chinese-origin rare‑earth magnets in military platforms starting 2027, creating a supply-chain re‑qualification and potential cost headwind for manufacturers that use high-performance magnets. This could increase sourcing costs and delays for some NOC systems depending on exposure. U.S. Defense Manufacturers Face A Rare Earth Supply Squeeze
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage highlights the broader industry scramble to build domestic rare‑earth supply chains—good long term, but costly and potentially disruptive in the near term. Why Trump Wants Magnets More Than Gold

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.4%

NOC opened at $757.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $450.13 and a 52 week high of $774.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $675.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $614.32. The firm has a market cap of $107.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $765.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $623.00 target price (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $680.00 to $815.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $693.60.

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.