Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Holdings Cut by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Vantage Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 3.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,247 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 927 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin makes up approximately 1.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $15,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 317.3% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 3,585 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,088,000 after purchasing an additional 2,726 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 443 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 3,432 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,007,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 6,963 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,070,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, tru Independence LLC increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 852 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on LMT shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $635.00 price target on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Melius upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $503.00 to $599.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $705.00 to $695.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $611.00.

Lockheed Martin Trading Up 1.1 %

LMT opened at $570.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.49. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 1-year low of $413.92 and a 1-year high of $618.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $578.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $522.08.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The company had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.77 EPS. Lockheed Martin’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is currently 45.62%.

Lockheed Martin Profile

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments.