StockNews.com Downgrades Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $489.65 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $418.60 and a 1 year high of $555.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $517.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $487.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.07 by $0.93. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 26.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.18 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 51.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total value of $616,067.08. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This represents a 68.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 1st quarter worth about $1,340,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Northrop Grumman by 328.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 60,574 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $28,995,000 after acquiring an additional 46,420 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 27,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 41.7% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 635 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.