Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $659.86

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $658.29.

NOC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $704.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $1,298,141,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,958,151,000 after purchasing an additional 970,029 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth about $376,135,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,039,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Northrop Grumman

Here are the key news stories impacting Northrop Grumman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northrop Grumman secured a $508 million missile-defense support contract, reinforcing demand for its defense and sustainment capabilities. The award could support backlog visibility and future revenue. Northrop Grumman Lands $508 Million Missile Defense Support Contract
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage of the APN-241 avionics processor award highlights a potential sustainment opportunity as the U.S. Air Force continues operating aging aircraft systems. Long-term replacement and maintenance demand could provide recurring growth for NOC. Can APN-241 Processor Demand Support Northrop Grumman’s Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly neutral on Northrop Grumman among major industrial companies, suggesting that current valuation and expected growth may already reflect much of the defense-spending opportunity. Analysts Are Neutral on Top Industrial Goods Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: The stock declined even after a significant adjusted-EPS beat and an upward revision to full-year guidance. Investors appear to be questioning the underlying quality and sustainability of the beat—potentially including earnings mix, margins, or cash-flow conversion—rather than rewarding the headline numbers. Why did Northrop Grumman’s stock fall despite an earnings beat?

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NOC opened at $508.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of -0.11. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $479.02 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $541.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $577.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.15 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.97 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 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and delivers systems, platforms and technologies for government and commercial customers. Its activities include the design and production of military aircraft, autonomous systems, spacecraft, launch vehicles, missile-defense systems, command-and-control networks, cyber solutions, sensors and other mission-critical technologies.

The company serves the U.S. Department of Defense, other U.S. government agencies and international customers.