Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NOC. BTIG Research started coverage on Northrop Grumman in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $483.00 to $518.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Alembic Global Advisors upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $532.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Northrop Grumman from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $477.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Northrop Grumman from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $510.36.

Northrop Grumman Stock Performance

Shares of NOC stock opened at $437.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $454.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $458.74. Northrop Grumman has a 12 month low of $414.56 and a 12 month high of $496.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.33.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The aerospace company reported $6.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.83 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $10.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Northrop Grumman had a net margin of 5.38% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 24.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOC. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 960.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 53 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Northrop Grumman in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 247.6% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northrop Grumman in the first quarter worth $38,000. 83.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.