Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Price

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $525.00 to $550.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on NOC. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $620.00 to $556.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $675.00 price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $636.91.

Northrop Grumman Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE:NOC opened at $534.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.17. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $470.06 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of -0.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $523.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $550.14.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 28.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total transaction of $52,015.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. The trade was a 2.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NOC. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 47,945 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,180,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,489,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 309.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 5,472 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 96,123 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $46,474,000 after buying an additional 8,727 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,487 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

More Northrop Grumman News

Here are the key news stories impacting Northrop Grumman this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings beat expectations: Adjusted earnings were $7.89 per diluted share, ahead of the roughly $7.18–$7.22 consensus, while sales rose 6.7% year over year to $11.12 billion, broadly matching estimates. Revenue increased across all four business segments, including 14% growth in aeronautics and 12% growth in defense. Northrop Grumman Q3 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance was raised: Management increased its 2026 midpoint for adjusted earnings per share to approximately $29.55 and raised its segment operating-income outlook by $65 million, while maintaining full-year sales guidance of $43.75 billion to $44.25 billion. Northrop lifts 2026 profit forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Record backlog supports visibility: Backlog reached approximately $109.6 billion, up about 20% year over year, with a 1.5-times book-to-bill ratio. Management cited unprecedented demand for military technology, while its preliminary 2027 outlook calls for 5%–7% sales growth. Northrop Grumman long-term investor takeaways
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support added to the bullish reaction: Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein reiterated a Buy rating and maintained a $750 price target following the earnings beat, backlog growth and raised outlook. Bank of America reiterates Buy rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to monitor political and budget risks for defense contractors, including concerns that a potential Democratic congressional sweep could affect certain weapons programs. These concerns were outweighed by NOC’s current operating results and demand outlook. Defense stocks and election risk
• Negative Sentiment: Some insider-trading data showed sales and no reported purchases over the past six months, a secondary caution for investors, although the transactions were not the primary driver of the market reaction.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.