Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

NOC has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $509.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $496.93 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $520.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $486.74. The stock has a market cap of $72.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.05%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth $31,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 245.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.