Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Receives $651.18 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $651.1765.

NOC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $650.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $654.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 97 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $564.08, for a total transaction of $54,715.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,414,826.48. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Soundwatch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at about $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at about $491,985,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 98.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 899,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $460,355,000 after buying an additional 446,940 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,933,061 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,466,472,000 after buying an additional 308,680 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth approximately $137,280,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE NOC opened at $577.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $426.24 and a twelve month high of $640.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $571.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $565.74.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.24. The firm had revenue of $10.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.49% and a net margin of 9.82%.The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.00 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 33.24%.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.