Northrop Grumman Slides as Defense Stocks Weaken in Broad Sector Selloff

Northrop Grumman (NOC) is down 3.2% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move looks more like a broad defense-sector selloff than a reaction to a new company-specific setback. Northrop Grumman’s recent updates were neutral to positive, so today’s drop could be because investors are rotating out of defense names and staying cautious on execution after the company’s last quarterly report showed profit pressure despite revenue growth.

Details:

NOC traded near $508.86 late in the session, down about 3.38% from the prior close, with shares opening above $527 and weakening through the day.

The selling was not isolated to Northrop Grumman: Lockheed Martin, RTX, and General Dynamics were also lower by roughly 2.5% to 3.1% in the same session, pointing to a group-wide move.

Northrop Grumman’s recent company announcements did not signal an obvious new negative catalyst; the company recently highlighted a Sentinel missile assembly milestone and separately set October 20, 2026 for third-quarter results.

In its latest quarterly release, the company posted 5% sales growth to $10.9 billion, but net earnings fell to $1.1 billion and diluted EPS slipped to $7.68 from $8.15 a year earlier, which may be keeping investors focused on margin and cash-flow execution.

Sources:

Northrop Grumman, SEC, AP

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$NOC Insider Trading Activity

$NOC insiders have traded $NOC stock on the open market 21 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 21 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NOC stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

MARK A III WELSH has made 0 purchases and 21 sales selling 190 shares for an estimated $106,324.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

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$NOC Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 819 institutional investors add shares of $NOC stock to their portfolio, and 937 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 1,829,766 shares (-26.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $931,918,121
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 1,400,270 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $713,171,513
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS removed 1,243,791 shares (-17.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $633,475,194
T. ROWE PRICE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC. added 1,156,101 shares (+31831.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $588,813,800
BLACKROCK, INC. added 901,299 shares (+8.3%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $459,040,593
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 881,615 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $449,015,335
FMR LLC removed 801,654 shares (-38.1%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $408,290,398

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$NOC Government Contracts

We have seen $12,094,468,372 of award payments to $NOC over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

GROUND-BASED STRATEGIC DETERRENT (GBSD) ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD) AND EARLY PRODUCTIO...: $2,958,654,061
E130J ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD): $544,564,255
THIS CONTRACT COVERS THE GROUND-BASED MIDCOURSE DEFENSE (GMD) WEAPON SYSTEM (GWS) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, DESI...: $520,386,428
COMPUTER,RADAR DATA: $438,315,691
NEXT GENERATION OVERHEAD PERSISTENT INFRARED POLAR SPACE VEHICLES 1 AND 2 STUDY.: $401,272,250

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard. You can access data on government contracts through the Quiver Quantitative API government contracts endpoint.

$NOC Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $NOC stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $NOC stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

SENATOR ALAN ARMSTRONG purchased up to $15,000 on 03/27.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$NOC Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NOC recently. We have seen 6 analysts offer price targets for $NOC in the last 6 months, with a median target of $745.0.

Here are some recent targets:

John Godyn from Citigroup set a target price of $587.0 on 07/01/2026
Sheila Kahyaoglu from Jefferies set a target price of $580.0 on 06/26/2026
Gavin Parsons from UBS set a target price of $745.0 on 04/23/2026
Andre Madrid from BTIG set a target price of $815.0 on 04/22/2026
Kristine Liwag from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $745.0 on 04/22/2026
David Strauss from Wells Fargo set a target price of $800.0 on 04/01/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.