Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $535.00.

NOC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.2 %

NOC stock opened at $529.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $522.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.58.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $10.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.02 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.44% and a net margin of 5.61%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,225,917.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,879 shares of company stock worth $1,410,703. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Optimum Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 281.5% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 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.