Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target Raised to $540.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price target raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $500.00 to $540.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NOC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $474.00 to $575.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $547.44.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $512.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $523.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $481.77. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $418.60 and a fifty-two week high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.62 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.18 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 1,390 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $2,317,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,490 shares of company stock valued at $747,372. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after buying an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after acquiring an additional 23,398 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 683,427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,937,000 after purchasing an additional 125,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.