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

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $523.20.

NOC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of Northrop Grumman stock opened at $543.88 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $509.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.49 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.34. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.43. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 57.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $695,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.56, for a total transaction of $663,330.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,846 shares of company stock worth $1,393,028. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,218,132,000 after purchasing an additional 211,459 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $590,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,156,477 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $541,393,000 after purchasing an additional 28,934 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.