Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered Northrop Grumman from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $592.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $550.56.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

NYSE:NOC opened at $489.65 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a market cap of $71.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $517.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $487.46.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.18 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $2.06 per share. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,255 shares of company stock valued at $667,727 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,140,892 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,186,681,000 after buying an additional 17,596 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003,360 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,581,644,000 after acquiring an additional 18,791 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 6.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,426,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,315,729,000 after purchasing an additional 141,816 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,087,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,276,000 after purchasing an additional 150,367 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 809,445 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $427,444,000 after acquiring an additional 3,211 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.