Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)’s share 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $604.17.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LMT. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $635.00 price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Friday, August 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $480.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $503.00 to $599.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $587.15.

Insider Activity at Lockheed Martin

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.36, for a total transaction of $2,048,556.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,574,850.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LMT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $902,714,000 after purchasing an additional 31,545 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,384,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,828,000 after purchasing an additional 180,074 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 11.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,144,000 after purchasing an additional 119,052 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the second 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. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $573.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $506.67. The stock has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.47.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.68 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. 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%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 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.