Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Receives $553.27 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $549.93.

NOC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,183.41. The trade was a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $663,859. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter valued at about $604,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 212,514 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $112,222,000 after acquiring an additional 5,334 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 7,458 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,938,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Securities Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NOC opened at $452.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $487.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $492.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $65.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.03, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $418.60 and a 52 week high of $555.57.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.05%.

Northrop Grumman declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.