Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Shares Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) shares fell 1.7% during trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $508.50 and last traded at $510.87. 1,022,804 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the average session volume of 921,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $519.86.

Key Headlines Impacting Northrop Grumman

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

• Positive Sentiment: Northrop Grumman reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.89 per share, well above the roughly $7.18-$7.22 analyst consensus. Revenue increased 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion, broadly matching expectations, while operating cash flow rose 12% to $1.745 billion. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Record backlog was the central bullish catalyst. Backlog reached approximately $109.6 billion, up 20% year over year, with a 1.5x book-to-bill ratio and $16.4 billion of quarterly awards. Management cited strong demand across aeronautics, defense, mission systems and space. Earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its 2026 adjusted EPS outlook to $29.35-$29.75 and lifted its segment operating-income guidance, while maintaining sales guidance of $43.75-$44.25 billion. Management also expects 5%-7% sales growth in 2027, reinforcing the case for multi-year expansion. Long-term investor takeaways
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved after the “beat and raise” results. Baird lifted its price target to $675 from $550, while Bank of America maintained a Buy rating with a $750 target. Baird price-target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its target to $550 but retained a “Sector Perform” rating, implying only limited upside from the referenced share price. Benzinga report
• Negative Sentiment: Potential risks include political uncertainty surrounding future defense spending and reported insider selling. These concerns are secondary to the earnings momentum but could limit valuation expansion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Barclays started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $419.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $704.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $636.91.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $75.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of -0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average is $523.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $550.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 31.39%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,707,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $655,373,000 after acquiring an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 587,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $400,557,000 after purchasing an additional 58,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.