Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Raised to Overweight at Alembic Global Advisors

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by Alembic Global Advisors from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $532.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock. Alembic Global Advisors’ target price indicates a potential upside of 12.14% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective (down from $515.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $505.00 to $475.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $560.00 to $540.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $497.23.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 0.7 %

Northrop Grumman stock opened at $474.40 on Monday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $414.56 and a twelve month high of $496.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $460.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.48. The company has a market capitalization of $70.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.80 by $0.47. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 24.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.68, for a total transaction of $95,482.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,421,784.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Kathryn G. Simpson sold 1,273 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,231,761.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,149 shares of company stock worth $1,421,147. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth $165,786,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,174,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $517,028,000 after purchasing an additional 502,060 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in Northrop Grumman by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 16,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723 shares during the period. Phraction Management LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter worth $677,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2,801.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 330,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $154,720,000 after acquiring an additional 319,109 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.