Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on NOC. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $623.00 target price (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $765.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Vertical Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $688.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $693.60.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NOC opened at $706.22 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $100.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.03. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $450.13 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $703.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $624.50.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.26. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.The business had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.39 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $732.98, for a total transaction of $107,748.06. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,850,774.50. This represents a 5.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,037.56. The trade was a 2.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 32,431 shares of company stock worth $21,969,404 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $25,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Karpus Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 48 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Northrop Grumman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Pentagon seeks a roughly $200 billion request tied to the Iran conflict, which would boost defense budgets and benefit major primes like Northrop through higher program funding and backlog visibility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Northrop’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) supplier summit on Capitol Hill signals active program engagement with Army, suppliers and lawmakers — positive for program momentum, potential follow-on awards, and political support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary notes Northrop outperformed peers intraday despite declines — indicating relative strength and investor preference within the defense group even on a down day. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst comparisons of Lockheed Martin (LMT) vs. Northrop (NOC) highlight strong defense demand, backlogs and differing program exposures — useful for investors weighing relative valuation and program risk, but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Northrop set its Q1 2026 earnings release and webcast for April 21 — a near-term event that can move the stock depending on revenue, margin, and guidance vs. already-established FY2026 EPS range. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry test flights (e.g., Talon IQ for CCA Increment 2) reflect active unmanned and CCA development across the sector; incremental tech progress can be positive long term but is not an immediate earnings driver. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: General Dynamics won a $15.38B Navy contract for submarine support — a large competitor award that could influence program share dynamics and investor expectations for how defense budgets are allocated. Article Title

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.