Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $521.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $424.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on NOC. Citigroup increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.65.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $534.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman has a one year low of $418.60 and a one year high of $555.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $481.83 and its 200 day moving average is $491.66.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. As a group, research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $2.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.08%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,677,781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,949,556,000 after purchasing an additional 56,807 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,239,434 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,866,133,000 after purchasing an additional 461,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,164,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,954,452,000 after buying an additional 23,808 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after purchasing an additional 21,903 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,807,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,317,402,000 after buying an additional 109,308 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by 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.