Brokerages Set Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Target Price at $576.67

Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $576.67.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NOC shares. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $625.00 price target (up previously from $550.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Northrop Grumman from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $480.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Northrop Grumman from $583.00 to $571.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 7,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $3,793,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 201,602 shares in the company, valued at $101,964,243.54. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas H. Jones sold 729 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.77, for a total value of $368,706.33. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 7,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,819,575.04. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,323,150. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $27,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company's stock.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:NOC traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $569.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 635,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,872. The firm has a market cap of $81.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $426.24 and a 1 year high of $576.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $501.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $490.55.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.15 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.52% and a net margin of 9.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.36 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Northrop Grumman's previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Northrop Grumman's dividend payout ratio is 34.06%.

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.