Robert W. Baird Raises Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target to $505.00

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its target price increased by Robert W. Baird from $475.00 to $505.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NOC. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $532.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. TheStreet lowered Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $450.00 target price (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 1.2 %

NOC opened at $486.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $463.30 and its 200-day moving average is $465.78. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $414.56 and a one year high of $496.89. The company has a market capitalization of $71.96 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,863,180.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock valued at $1,421,147 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 353.3% in the first quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 136 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 3.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 68,656 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,863,000 after acquiring an additional 2,179 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 47.9% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,151 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,232 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 28.1% during the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 957 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.