Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $509.38.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total value of $95,482.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,421,784.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 960.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $468.86 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $414.56 and a 52 week high of $496.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $465.15 and a 200-day moving average of $465.32.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.83 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 24.09% and a net margin of 5.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

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.