Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by stock analysts at BNP Paribas to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NOC. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $696.00 target price on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $700.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NOC stock opened at $565.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $80.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.07. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $426.24 and a fifty-two week high of $640.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $589.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $549.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,531,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,245,066,000 after buying an additional 109,941 shares in the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,457,274,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,631,390,000 after acquiring an additional 974,633 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,115,519 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,554,299,000 after acquiring an additional 14,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,996,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,825,696,000 after acquiring an additional 63,223 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.