Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

NOC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $727.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Monday, January 12th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $662.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Northrop Grumman from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Finally, BTIG Research increased their target price on Northrop Grumman from $680.00 to $815.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $693.60.

Northrop Grumman Trading Down 1.1%

NOC stock opened at $706.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $703.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $624.20. Northrop Grumman has a 52 week low of $450.13 and a 52 week high of $774.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $100.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.03.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 25.57%. Northrop Grumman’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $2.31 per share. This represents a $9.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is presently 31.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Northrop Grumman news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,877,037.56. The trade was a 2.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael A. Hardesty sold 147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $732.98, for a total transaction of $107,748.06. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,525 shares in the company, valued at $1,850,774.50. The trade was a 5.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Karpus Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 48 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Key Northrop Grumman News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Pentagon seeks a roughly $200 billion request tied to the Iran conflict, which would boost defense budgets and benefit major primes like Northrop through higher program funding and backlog visibility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Northrop’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) supplier summit on Capitol Hill signals active program engagement with Army, suppliers and lawmakers — positive for program momentum, potential follow-on awards, and political support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary notes Northrop outperformed peers intraday despite declines — indicating relative strength and investor preference within the defense group even on a down day. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst comparisons of Lockheed Martin (LMT) vs. Northrop (NOC) highlight strong defense demand, backlogs and differing program exposures — useful for investors weighing relative valuation and program risk, but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Northrop set its Q1 2026 earnings release and webcast for April 21 — a near-term event that can move the stock depending on revenue, margin, and guidance vs. already-established FY2026 EPS range. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry test flights (e.g., Talon IQ for CCA Increment 2) reflect active unmanned and CCA development across the sector; incremental tech progress can be positive long term but is not an immediate earnings driver. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: General Dynamics won a $15.38B Navy contract for submarine support — a large competitor award that could influence program share dynamics and investor expectations for how defense budgets are allocated. Article Title

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.