Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Stock Price Down 2% – Should You Sell?

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) shares fell 2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $578.23 and last traded at $580.3940. 1,715,802 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 1% from the average session volume of 1,737,578 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.19.

Key Stories Impacting Lockheed Martin

Here are the key news stories impacting Lockheed Martin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer named LMT a buy and said the company’s upcoming quarter “could be a blockbuster,” a high-profile endorsement that can lift investor sentiment and trading interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest in LMT fell ~14.6%, reducing one source of downside pressure and removing a potential catalyst for squeezes—this is generally supportive for the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets (Zacks, Motley Fool) are highlighting LMT as a value/wide-moat defense pick and arguing defense contractors should benefit from elevated geopolitical tensions — this increases investor attention and could attract long-only flows. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: An article flags broader geopolitical instability (Middle East tensions and related sanctions/blockades) that generally supports defense spending and backlog visibility — macro tailwinds for Lockheed’s order book. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are watching an upcoming investor update; Fool asks whether to buy ahead of it, which may increase short-term volatility depending on new guidance or order commentary. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks published pieces on Q1 earnings expectations and style-score rankings; these are informational—useful for framing consensus beats/misses but not immediate catalysts unless results diverge from estimates. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons between Lockheed and peers (e.g., Howmet) recur in the press; helpful for portfolio positioning but not a direct stock catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: One unrelated market article (Barron’s on LATAM vs Delta) is in the feed and has no direct impact on LMT. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Operational/earnings pressure: Lockheed’s most recent reported quarter missed EPS vs. consensus (and EPS declined year-over-year), which can weigh on near-term sentiment and explains some of today’s weakness—investors will watch the upcoming update for margin/order detail. (Background earnings data)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LMT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $654.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank lowered Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $605.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $645.79.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $133.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $637.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $552.02.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.84 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 108.53% and a net margin of 6.69%.The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 29.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $3.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $13.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 64.22%.

Institutional Trading of Lockheed Martin

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LMT. Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. United Financial Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Triumph Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 66.7% during the fourth quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 55 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 285.7% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.