Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target Raised to $509.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $467.00 to $509.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on NOC. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $477.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 21st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $530.00 to $500.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $515.07.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $480.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.33. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $441.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $455.46.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.95 by $0.41. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.61% and a return on equity of 25.44%. The firm had revenue of $10.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.1 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.87. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,747,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,623,128,000 after acquiring an additional 621,636 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,634,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,218,132,000 after acquiring an additional 211,459 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,688,511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,765,543,000 after purchasing an additional 23,398 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 2,271,466 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,063,364,000 after purchasing an additional 80,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,260,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $590,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,275 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.