Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target Raised to $505.00 at Robert W. Baird

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price target raised by Robert W. Baird from $475.00 to $505.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on NOC. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $480.45 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $414.56 and a 12-month high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $462.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $465.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $165,786,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $517,028,000 after purchasing an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723 shares during the last quarter. Phraction Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $677,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

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.