Douglas Harned Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
Repeating in second place is Douglas Harned of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “His insights are often months ahead of his peers’,” insists one loyalist. Harned upgraded Northrop Grumman Corp. from neutral to outperform in February 2009, at $42.49, on the belief that the Los Angeles–based manufacturer of surveillance and combat aircraft, and one of the world’s largest defense contractors, would benefit from any increase in defense spending. The stock soared above $68 per share in late April 2010 before slipping back to $54.12 by the end of August, for a gain of 27.4 percent since the upgrade. During the same period the sector advanced 22.5 percent.
