Why Northrop Grumman (NOC) Stock Is Up Today

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

Analysis: A single fresh company-specific catalyst is not obvious, so the move appears tied to improving sentiment around Northrop Grumman ahead of its October 20, 2026 earnings report. This could also be because investors are revisiting the stock after earlier weakness, with support from the company’s strong backlog, prior guidance increase, and continued demand for missile defense, aircraft, and strategic deterrence programs.

Details:

Northrop Grumman said on September 17 that it will release third-quarter 2026 results before the market opens on October 20, putting earnings back in focus.

In second-quarter 2026 results, the company posted higher sales year over year and raised its full-year 2026 sales and adjusted earnings outlook.

Northrop Grumman has highlighted major demand drivers across the B-21 program, Sentinel, missile defense, and other national security programs, helping support a large backlog.

Recent company updates also pointed to production progress on Sentinel and multi-year agreements worth more than $3 billion to accelerate missile interceptor production, reinforcing the longer-term demand story.

Sources:

Northrop Grumman Investor Relations, SEC, Benzinga

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 808 institutional investors add shares of $NOC stock to their portfolio, and 821 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 $12,083,323,341 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...: $2,919,034,000
BLOCK 3 EA SUBSYSTEM HEMISPHERE PRODUCTION: $661,243,087
E130J ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT (EMD): $544,564,255
THIS CONTRACT COVERS THE GROUND-BASED MIDCOURSE DEFENSE (GMD) WEAPON SYSTEM (GWS) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, DESI...: $472,991,014
COMPUTER,RADAR DATA: $438,315,691

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 Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NOC recently. We have seen 5 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

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.