Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Lifted to “Overweight” at Alembic Global Advisors

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

NOC has been the topic of several other reports. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $470.98 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $460.10 and a 200 day moving average of $465.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $69.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.43 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.07% and a net margin of 5.23%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $1.87 per share. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total value of $322,239.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. 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

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. 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.