Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Sets New 12-Month High at $530.16

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $530.16 and last traded at $530.16, with a volume of 83150 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $525.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on NOC. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $593.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $467.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.20.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $78.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $469.84.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,634 shares in the company, valued at $2,317,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $695,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,225,917.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,846 shares of company stock valued at $1,393,028 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1,402.9% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 12,925 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,186,000 after purchasing an additional 12,065 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $870,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $778,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 7,574.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 123,637 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $57,879,000 after purchasing an additional 122,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth $264,000. 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.