Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target Increased to $475.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $450.00 to $475.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on NOC. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research report on Friday. Alembic Global Advisors raised Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $532.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.2 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $486.22 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a 1-year low of $414.56 and a 1-year high of $496.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $463.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.00, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,863,180.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the business’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 approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 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 modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $283,114,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after acquiring an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,488,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,975,754,000 after purchasing an additional 410,736 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at $165,786,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,605,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $706,804,000 after purchasing an additional 362,515 shares in the last quarter. 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.