Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Sets New 12-Month High at $530.16

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $530.16 and last traded at $530.16, with a volume of 83150 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $525.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on NOC. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.6 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.84. The company has a market cap of $78.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The company had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Co. will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.62%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1,402.9% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,925 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,186,000 after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $870,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter valued at $778,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after acquiring an additional 122,026 shares during the period. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense technology company in the United States, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The company’s Aeronautics Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, and sustains aircraft systems. This segment also offers unmanned autonomous aircraft systems, including high-altitude long-endurance strategic ISR systems and vertical take-off and landing tactical ISR systems; and strategic long-range strike aircraft, tactical fighter and air dominance aircraft, and airborne battle management and command and control systems.