Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)’s stock price was up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $560.00 to $610.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as high as $573.93 and last traded at $571.77. Approximately 249,125 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,050,761 shares. The stock had previously closed at $571.10.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lockheed Martin from $483.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $635.00 price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $503.00 to $599.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lockheed Martin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Lockheed Martin by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $902,714,000 after buying an additional 31,545 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556,609 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,384,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $646,828,000 after acquiring an additional 180,074 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Lockheed Martin by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,144,000 after purchasing an additional 119,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $476,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $579.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $513.50. The company has a market cap of $137.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 95.03% and a net margin of 9.48%. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.68 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

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.