Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Up 2.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) traded up 2.2% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $468.00 to $476.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as high as $469.73 and last traded at $471.77. 393,810 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 1,106,790 shares. The stock had previously closed at $461.50.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on LMT. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $527.00 to $508.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Lockheed Martin from $555.00 to $525.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Lockheed Martin in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $579.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $611.00 to $523.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $554.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the fourth quarter valued at $77,000. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,634,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 44.5% in the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $149,000. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lockheed Martin Trading Up 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $463.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.42. The firm has a market cap of $111.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 101.47%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 59.30%.

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.