Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $544.20.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Lockheed Martin from $527.00 to $508.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $535.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Monday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $611.00 to $523.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $555.00 to $525.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lockheed Martin

In other Lockheed Martin news, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total value of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total value of $312,925.27. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,008,265.58. This trade represents a 23.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,133 shares of company stock valued at $3,155,916 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lockheed Martin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 17.9% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,132,461 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,374,557,000 after buying an additional 59,597 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,389,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,981,088,000 after acquiring an additional 209,591 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Lockheed Martin by 8.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,074,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,797,437,000 after acquiring an additional 240,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,260,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,098,667,000 after acquiring an additional 134,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

Shares of LMT opened at $434.72 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. Lockheed Martin has a twelve month low of $419.70 and a twelve month high of $618.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $459.96 and a 200-day moving average of $513.50.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 101.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin will post 27.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend 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.