Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Shares Climb 2.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) traded up 2.5% on Thursday after Robert W. Baird upgraded the stock from a hold rating to an outperform rating. Robert W. Baird now has a $675.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $550.00. Northrop Grumman traded as high as $556.56 and last traded at $552.8190. 1,053,955 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 928,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $539.31.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NOC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $620.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $680.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $635.00 to $600.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, 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. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $641.83.

Insider Transactions at Northrop Grumman

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

Key Stories Impacting Northrop Grumman

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings beat expectations and full-year guidance was raised. Northrop Grumman reported adjusted earnings of $7.89 per share, ahead of the $7.18 consensus estimate. Management now expects fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $29.35-$29.75, above the $28.97 consensus, while revenue guidance of $43.8-$44.3 billion is broadly in line with expectations. Northrop Grumman Analysts Boost Their Forecasts Following Upbeat Q3 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Record backlog improves long-term revenue visibility. Backlog reached approximately $109.6 billion-$110 billion, up about 20% year over year, with a 1.5 times book-to-bill ratio. Management also highlighted expected 2027 sales growth of 5%-7%, supported by B-21 investments and strong demand across defense and space programs. NOC’s Q3 Earnings Call Highlights 2027 Growth and B-21 Spending
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved materially. Baird upgraded NOC to “strong buy” and raised its target to $675 from $550, while BNP Paribas Exane increased its target to $600 and maintained an outperform rating. These actions reinforce the market’s favorable interpretation of the earnings “beat and raise.”
• Neutral Sentiment: Northrop Grumman’s appearance at the AUSA 2026 defense conference keeps investor attention focused on military technology demand and the company’s program pipeline. AUSA: Northrop Grumman’s Kenneth Todorov
• Negative Sentiment: Higher capital spending and continued margin pressure could limit near-term upside. The company has also paused buybacks, leaving investors more dependent on operating growth and execution to support shareholder returns. Are RTX Corporation and Northrop Grumman Ready to Break Out?

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,169,195 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,707,203,000 after purchasing an additional 168,267 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the second quarter worth $6,001,616,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter worth $1,298,141,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Northrop Grumman by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 960,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $655,373,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 2.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 747,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $380,516,000 after buying an additional 16,195 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 2.5%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $522.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $548.98. The company has a market capitalization of $78.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The aerospace company reported $7.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.18 by $0.71. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 23.46% and a net margin of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $11.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman Corporation will post 29.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $2.47 per share. This represents a $9.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 31st. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.17%.

About Northrop Grumman

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.