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

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $550.56.

NOC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 241.2% during the 2nd quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 58 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.3 %

NOC opened at $493.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $523.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $486.13. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

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.