The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to “Neutral”

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $521.00 price objective on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $424.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 2.46% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NOC. Argus upgraded Northrop Grumman to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $544.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.65.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NOC stock opened at $534.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $76.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. Northrop Grumman has a 52-week low of $418.60 and a 52-week high of $555.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $481.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.66.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The aerospace company reported $6.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.27 by $0.12. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 26.24% and a net margin of 10.17%. Research analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total value of $1,783,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 212,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,243,053.80. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,505 shares of company stock valued at $2,127,182. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.