Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Shares Climb 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) shot up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $543.92 and last traded at $539.48. 810,896 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 932,650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $525.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on NOC shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $617.00 to $667.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $419.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Northrop Grumman from $694.00 to $698.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.74.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $519.36 and a 200 day moving average of $588.90. The firm has a market cap of $76.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of -0.13.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.37% and a return on equity of 23.46%. The firm had revenue of $11.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a $2.47 dividend. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is currently 31.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $555.65, for a total transaction of $54,453.70. Following the sale, the director owned 4,314 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,074.10. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $1,298,141,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at $376,135,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $44,039,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $194,058,000. Institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers. Its business spans aeronautics, defense, mission technologies and space, including military aircraft, autonomous systems, missile and air-defense capabilities, sensors, communications and satellites.

The company is the prime contractor for the B-21 Raider and is developing the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system. It also supplies technologies and components for other defense programs, as well as launch vehicles, propulsion systems and spacecraft.

Northrop Grumman traces its roots to Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939, and Grumman, founded in 1930; the two companies combined in 1994.