Certuity LLC Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Certuity LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 21,264 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,957,000. Northrop Grumman comprises 0.6% of Certuity LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NOC. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 880 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,609 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 104.1% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 7,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,679,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 3,076 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on NOC. Vertical Research restated a “hold” rating and set a $688.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $680.00 to $815.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $693.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the sale, the director owned 4,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,877,037.56. This represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 2,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.61, for a total value of $1,575,226.29. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,661.11. This trade represents a 93.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,431 shares of company stock worth $21,969,404 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $735.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.03. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 12 month low of $450.13 and a 12 month high of $774.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $688.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $618.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 31.72%.

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.