Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $473.65 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The stock has a market cap of $69.01 billion, a PE ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $512.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $487.83.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $666,461 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Trust lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 1,534 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,729,000 after buying an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 28.1% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,814 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,485,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 41.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 5,403 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 274.1% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 1,880 shares during the last quarter. 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.