Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading 1.4% Higher – Here’s Why

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s stock price was up 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $644.25 and last traded at $637.2450. Approximately 1,744,046 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 2,083,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $628.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on LMT shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $492.00 to $611.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Lockheed Martin from $580.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $675.00 target price on Lockheed Martin in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $612.50.

Lockheed Martin Trading Up 2.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $545.43 and a 200 day moving average of $493.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.84 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 108.53% and a net margin of 6.69%.Lockheed Martin’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.45 per share. This represents a $13.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 64.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,512,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 8,499 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,111,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the fourth quarter worth $2,312,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burton Enright Welch acquired a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is a global aerospace and defense company that designs, develops and manufactures advanced technology systems for government and commercial customers. Formed through the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and focuses on providing integrated solutions across air, space, land and sea domains. Its primary customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and allied governments around the world.

Lockheed Martin’s product and service portfolio spans military aircraft, missile and fire-control systems, missile defense, space systems and satellite technologies, sensors and precision weapons.