Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $562.54.

LMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $480.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $518.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

NYSE LMT opened at $605.13 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. Lockheed Martin has a 52-week low of $393.77 and a 52-week high of $611.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $565.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.64. The firm has a market cap of $145.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.10%.

Insider Transactions at Lockheed Martin

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 8,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,574,850.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 661 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 670 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 20,442 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 3,130 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,419,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 42,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $19,059,000 after acquiring an additional 6,415 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.