Truist Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Price

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $545.00 to $600.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NOC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Northrop Grumman from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $424.00 to $521.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $580.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus raised shares of Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $548.88.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

NOC opened at $539.96 on Thursday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $487.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.17.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.08%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,243,053.80. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

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

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.