State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 49,392 Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 79,725 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 49,392 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $37,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LMT. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1,075.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 481,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,841,000 after purchasing an additional 440,169 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,589,447 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,173,641,000 after purchasing an additional 336,588 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin in the first quarter valued at approximately $151,402,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 574,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $260,169,000 after purchasing an additional 274,680 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 29.7% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 953,285 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $433,621,000 after purchasing an additional 218,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $515.36, for a total transaction of $2,048,556.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,877 shares in the company, valued at $4,574,850.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

NYSE LMT opened at $566.96 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $393.77 and a 12 month high of $578.73. The company’s 50 day moving average is $530.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $481.95. The stock has a market cap of $135.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.47.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.66. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 95.03%. The company had revenue of $18.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.73 earnings per share. Lockheed Martin’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $3.15 dividend. This represents a $12.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LMT. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Melius Research raised shares of Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $511.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $483.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.43.

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.