Brokerages Set Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Price Target at $550.56

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $550.56.

NOC has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $474.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $488.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.28, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $522.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $486.29.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued 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 business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.18 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,289 shares of company stock valued at $685,273. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 883 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 26,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,798,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth $519,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,581,644,000 after buying an additional 18,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth about $571,000. 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.