Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Price Up 1.7% – Still a Buy?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)’s stock price traded up 1.7% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $569.00 and last traded at $562.3990. Approximately 1,054,286 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 927,323 shares. The stock had previously closed at $552.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $785.00 to $655.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.7%

The firm has a market cap of $79.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $521.03 and a 200-day moving average of $592.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.62 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. This trade represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.0% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 61,436 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,914,000 after buying an additional 4,041 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,707,203,000 after acquiring an additional 168,267 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the second quarter valued at about $3,308,000. Sage Capital Advisors llc acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $5,773,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth about $1,298,141,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.