UBS Group Cuts Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Price Target to $571.00

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) had its price objective reduced by UBS Group from $583.00 to $571.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on NOC. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Northrop Grumman from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $575.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $550.00 to $500.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $587.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $545.00 to $547.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northrop Grumman has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:NOC opened at $473.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $490.24. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $418.60 and a 12 month high of $555.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.27). Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 26.24%. The firm had revenue of $9.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.07 billion. Analysts expect that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $2.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $8.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Northrop Grumman’s payout ratio is 29.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.08, for a total value of $82,383.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,217.72. This trade represents a 21.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.65, for a total transaction of $1,783,687.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 212,852 shares in the company, valued at $101,243,053.80. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,505 shares of company stock worth $2,127,182 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 16,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 48,367 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $22,698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Northrop Grumman by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,025,263 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,417,850,000 after acquiring an additional 21,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman during the fourth quarter valued at about $284,000. Hedge funds and other 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.