Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at BNP Paribas

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BNP Paribas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

NOC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Northrop Grumman from $547.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $625.00 to $688.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Northrop Grumman from $650.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $646.94.

Northrop Grumman Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:NOC traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $566.54. 175,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 917,560. The firm has a market cap of $80.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $589.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $549.67. Northrop Grumman has a 52-week low of $426.24 and a 52-week high of $640.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.43 by $1.24. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.68 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 9.82% and a return on equity of 25.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.00 EPS. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.650-26.050 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOC. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,457,274,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman during the 2nd quarter valued at $491,985,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,139,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,631,390,000 after purchasing an additional 974,633 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Northrop Grumman by 1,425.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,001,198 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $512,624,000 after purchasing an additional 935,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northrop Grumman during the first quarter worth $369,205,000. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Northrop Grumman

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.