Sage Capital Advisors llc Makes New Investment in Northrop Grumman Corporation $NOC

Sage Capital Advisors llc purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,941 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,773,000. Northrop Grumman makes up 0.9% of Sage Capital Advisors llc’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $6,707,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $655,373,000 after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 747,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $380,516,000 after buying an additional 16,195 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $640.00 to $525.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $620.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $653.00 to $620.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,299.29. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded down $0.26 on Tuesday, reaching $484.74. 253,128 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 911,978. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $530.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $557.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of -0.11. Northrop Grumman Corporation has a 52 week low of $470.06 and a 52 week high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 10.48%. The company had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

About Northrop Grumman

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. Department of Defense and other government agencies representing its primary markets. Its work spans advanced aircraft, autonomous systems, space systems, missile defense, command and control, cybersecurity, and other mission-critical technologies.

The company’s offerings include strategic and tactical aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, aircraft systems, satellites, spacecraft, launch vehicles, missile-warning and missile-defense systems, secure communications, and cyber and information systems.