Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Vertical Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $688.00 price target on shares of Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Argus set a $785.00 price objective on Northrop Grumman in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $623.00 target price (down from $688.00) on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Northrop Grumman in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Northrop Grumman from $715.00 to $781.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northrop Grumman currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $708.65.

Northrop Grumman Price Performance

Shares of NOC opened at $703.88 on Tuesday. Northrop Grumman has a twelve month low of $450.13 and a twelve month high of $774.00. The company has a market capitalization of $99.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $709.26 and a 200 day moving average of $630.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

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

Northrop Grumman Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $2.31 dividend. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Northrop Grumman’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kathy J. Warden sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $708.82, for a total transaction of $14,176,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 171,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,634,929.64. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Benjamin R. Davies sold 2,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.61, for a total transaction of $1,575,226.29. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,661.11. This represents a 93.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,431 shares of company stock valued at $21,969,404 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northrop Grumman

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Northrop Grumman by 176.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,970 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Northrop Grumman by 367.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,516 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,978 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 26.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Northrop Grumman by 1.0% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 8,297 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,148,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 83.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Northrop Grumman

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

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on NOC to $807 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling roughly mid‑teens upside from recent levels; this is a material upward revision to street expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated/expanded coverage on Northrop Grumman with an overweight / strong‑buy posture and an ~$800 price target, adding institutional analyst support that can boost demand for the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded NOC to “strong‑buy,” adding another favorable independent signal from the sell‑side/independent research community. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Product/program tailwinds: Northrop demonstrated an autonomous Lumberjack UAS in an Army exercise and has recent EW (SEWIP Block 3) wins and a Navy contract extension, supporting near‑ and mid‑term revenue/valuation justification for a premium multiple. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Space program exposure: broader coverage of aerospace/space themes around NASA’s Artemis II highlights additional growth opportunities for prime contractors, a modest positive tailwind but with timing uncertainty. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Supply‑chain/contract ecosystem note: an Oklahoma supplier, Long Wave, tripled headcount on a $350M Navy training systems award — a sign of contract flow into the supplier base but only an indirect benefit to NOC. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Political risk: commentary that the U.S. could reconsider NATO commitments and related rhetoric raises headline risk and policy uncertainty for the defense sector, which could cause volatility despite longer‑term budget tailwinds. 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.