Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Receives $661.30 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $661.30.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NOC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $653.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $620.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:NOC opened at $545.83 on Friday. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $479.02 and a 12 month high of $774.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $77.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of -0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $542.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.12.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.15 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 31.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NOC. Amundi lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 113,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $57,820,000 after acquiring an additional 8,880 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 93,693 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $47,719,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,037,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 50,207.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 105,745,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,857,235,000 after purchasing an additional 105,535,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 171.4% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.