Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Shares Climb 1.8% – Should You Buy?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)’s share price was up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $553.47 and last traded at $549.0090. 546,133 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 930,138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $539.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on NOC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $745.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $615.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $77.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of -0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $519.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $588.28.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.14 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $2.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northrop Grumman

In other news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,074.10. This trade represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOC. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.4% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,904,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,806 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites. The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.