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

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on NOC. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. 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 report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $503.00.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $480.45 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $465.77.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 24.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total value of $573,321.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at $1,231,761.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 the SEC website. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.37, for a total transaction of $573,321.01. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.