Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $560.00 to $630.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as high as $611.74 and last traded at $610.87, with a volume of 370791 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $604.17.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $511.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lockheed Martin presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $587.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,574,850.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 worth $218,841,000 after purchasing an additional 440,169 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the first quarter valued at approximately $151,402,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Lockheed Martin by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 953,285 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $433,621,000 after buying an additional 218,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 219.3% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 318,107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $149,138,000 after acquiring an additional 218,466 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $572.03 and a 200 day moving average of $505.57.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $18.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 95.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

Lockheed Martin Company 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.