Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded at Alembic Global Advisors

Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $532.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $450.00 price target (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NOC opened at $474.57 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $461.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $465.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $70.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.50 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were given a $1.87 dividend. 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 1.58%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 55.49%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Family Legacy Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the first quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 5,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Oxler Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 145.4% during the first quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,366,000 after acquiring an additional 4,167 shares during the period. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 21.0% during the first quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 168.5% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 9,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 6,048 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth about $4,195,000. 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.