Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $693.60.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $727.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $777.00 to $778.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.3%

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $669.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $95.07 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $707.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $628.86. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $450.13 and a one year high of $774.00.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.97 by $0.26. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.The business had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total value of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,037.56. This trade represents a 2.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 147 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $732.98, for a total value of $107,748.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,850,774.50. This trade represents a 5.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,958,151,000 after purchasing an additional 970,029 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 56,920.9% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 421,955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $240,603,000 after purchasing an additional 421,215 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 401,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $229,033,000 after buying an additional 293,909 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 3rd quarter valued at about $137,280,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,051,226 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $640,534,000 after buying an additional 221,431 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 (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.