Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Jumps 2.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Northrop Grumman shares rose 2.6% after JPMorgan increased its price target from $600 to $605 while maintaining a neutral rating.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $642.26; 15 analysts rate the stock Buy, nine Hold, and one Sell.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $7.89 versus the $7.18 estimate, while revenue rose 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC - Get Free Report) shot up 2.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $605.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Northrop Grumman traded as high as $566.48 and last traded at $565.9430. Approximately 790,249 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 926,861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $551.44.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on NOC. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $745.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $612.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Northrop Grumman from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 target price on Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $642.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,707,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,267 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at about $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $655,373,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 747,121 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $380,516,000 after buying an additional 16,195 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 2.6%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $521.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $546.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of -0.11. 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 - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. Northrop Grumman's revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Northrop Grumman's payout ratio is presently 31.17%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.

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