Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading 0.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) shares were up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $450.20 and last traded at $449.46. Approximately 232,097 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 1,641,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $446.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LMT shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Lockheed Martin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $550.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $515.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $527.00 to $508.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $685.00 to $485.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $539.53.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $105.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $455.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $509.05.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.47% and a net margin of 7.51%. Analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total transaction of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $884,840. The trade was a 61.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total transaction of $312,925.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,008,265.58. The trade was a 23.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,471,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,630,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,461 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,374,557,000 after purchasing an additional 59,597 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,074,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,797,437,000 after buying an additional 240,306 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,260,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,098,667,000 after buying an additional 134,662 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Lockheed Martin by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,131,928 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,035,989,000 after acquiring an additional 318,007 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Lockheed Martin

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.