Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $655.30.

Several research firms have recently commented on NOC. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $550.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $603.00 to $533.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $580.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $666.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $571.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $534.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $617.00. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $479.02 and a 12-month high of $774.00. The stock has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of -0.11.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.86. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $2.47 dividend. This is an increase from Northrop Grumman’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 31.39%.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,001,616,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,958,151,000 after purchasing an additional 970,029 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $376,135,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 56,920.9% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 421,955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $240,603,000 after buying an additional 421,215 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $194,058,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.