Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

NOC has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna cut their target price on Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $614.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $521.00 to $587.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $550.94.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $482.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $70.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.35. Northrop Grumman has a 12-month low of $418.60 and a 12-month high of $555.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $494.51.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $7.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by $0.93. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.57% and a net margin of 5.79%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 25.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 1,156 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $532.93, for a total transaction of $616,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 537 shares in the company, valued at $286,183.41. This trade represents a 68.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,255 shares of company stock worth $663,859 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,210 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,730,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,386 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,914,000 after buying an additional 2,209 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 232.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,914,000 after acquiring an additional 34,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 541 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

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.