Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $579.00 to $558.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $574.00 to $545.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $557.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Northrop Grumman from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.75.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NOC opened at $461.74 on Wednesday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $418.60 and a twelve month high of $555.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $496.22. The company has a market cap of $66.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Northrop Grumman announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $2.06 dividend. This represents a $8.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insider Activity at Northrop Grumman

In other Northrop Grumman news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total transaction of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 291 shares of company stock valued at $129,184 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 27.1% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 12,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 12,513 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,608,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its stake in Northrop Grumman by 16.9% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 27.7% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 21.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

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.