Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Northrop Grumman Co. (NYSE:NOC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $550.56.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $491.98 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $521.50 and its 200 day moving average is $486.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,289 shares of company stock worth $685,273 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 150.0% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 135 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 102.2% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 2,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 589 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Alera Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $214,000. 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.