Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target to $475.00

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its target price hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $450.00 to $475.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NOC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Friday. TheStreet lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $532.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.6 %

NOC opened at $480.45 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a fifty-two week low of $414.56 and a fifty-two week high of $496.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $462.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.72.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $1.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $7.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 52.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares in the company, valued at $917,317.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $430,103.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,137 shares in the company, valued at $1,863,180.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.22, for a total transaction of $322,239.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,317.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $165,786,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after buying an additional 502,060 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,731,000 after buying an additional 2,723 shares during the last quarter. Phraction Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $677,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after buying an additional 319,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

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.