Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Strong-Buy Rating

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also commented on NOC. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Northrop Grumman from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $623.00 price objective (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Argus set a $785.00 target price on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $693.60.

Northrop Grumman Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NOC opened at $706.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $100.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.03. Northrop Grumman has a 1 year low of $450.13 and a 1 year high of $774.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $703.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $623.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The aerospace company reported $7.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.97 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $11.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Northrop Grumman had a return on equity of 25.57% and a net margin of 9.97%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.39 earnings per share. Northrop Grumman has set its FY 2026 guidance at 27.400-27.900 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northrop Grumman will post 28.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Welsh III sold 95 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $684.52, for a total transaction of $65,029.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,877,037.56. This trade represents a 2.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 20,000 shares of Northrop Grumman stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $708.82, for a total transaction of $14,176,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 171,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,634,929.64. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northrop Grumman

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northrop Grumman by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,740,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,835,097,000 after purchasing an additional 209,135 shares in the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northrop Grumman in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,457,274,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Northrop Grumman by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,434,041 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,958,151,000 after buying an additional 970,029 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northrop Grumman by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,149,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,793,478,000 after acquiring an additional 17,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,125,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,781,986,000 after buying an additional 128,855 shares during the period. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Northrop Grumman News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Pentagon seeks a roughly $200 billion request tied to the Iran conflict, which would boost defense budgets and benefit major primes like Northrop through higher program funding and backlog visibility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Northrop’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) supplier summit on Capitol Hill signals active program engagement with Army, suppliers and lawmakers — positive for program momentum, potential follow-on awards, and political support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary notes Northrop outperformed peers intraday despite declines — indicating relative strength and investor preference within the defense group even on a down day. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst comparisons of Lockheed Martin (LMT) vs. Northrop (NOC) highlight strong defense demand, backlogs and differing program exposures — useful for investors weighing relative valuation and program risk, but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Northrop set its Q1 2026 earnings release and webcast for April 21 — a near-term event that can move the stock depending on revenue, margin, and guidance vs. already-established FY2026 EPS range. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry test flights (e.g., Talon IQ for CCA Increment 2) reflect active unmanned and CCA development across the sector; incremental tech progress can be positive long term but is not an immediate earnings driver. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: General Dynamics won a $15.38B Navy contract for submarine support — a large competitor award that could influence program share dynamics and investor expectations for how defense budgets are allocated. Article Title

Northrop Grumman Company Profile

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading U.S.-based aerospace and defense company that designs, builds and sustains advanced systems, products and technologies for government and commercial customers. Formed through the combination of Northrop and Grumman businesses in the 1990s, the company’s portfolio spans manned and unmanned aircraft, space systems, missile defense, radar and sensor systems, and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) solutions.

The company’s work includes airframe and platform manufacturing, space hardware and satellite systems, advanced mission systems and cybersecurity services, as well as logistics, sustainment and modernization programs.