Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Stock Falls 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) shares traded down 1.7% on Monday. The company traded as low as $508.50 and last traded at $510.87. 1,022,804 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 11% from the average session volume of 921,291 shares. The stock had previously closed at $519.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NOC. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $612.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $745.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Northrop Grumman from $533.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $641.91.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $72.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of -0.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $525.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $552.48.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.82 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.15 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 28.600-29.100 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 28.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. This represents a $9.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark Welsh, III sold 95 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $547.53, for a total value of $52,015.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,405,299.29. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Northrop Grumman during the third quarter worth about $281,000. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 48.3% during the third quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 7.2% during the third quarter. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC now owns 866 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.6% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Delta Capital Management LLC now owns 3,375 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.40% of the company’s stock.

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a global aerospace and defense company that develops and produces systems for government and commercial customers, with the U.S. government representing its primary customer base. The company operates across aerospace, defense, space, cybersecurity and advanced technology markets.

Its products and services include military aircraft and autonomous systems, space systems and satellites, missile defense technologies, command-and-control systems, cyber solutions, sensors, communications networks and other mission-critical systems.