Brokerages Set Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Target Price at $541.85

Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $541.85.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LMT. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $508.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Lockheed Martin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $465.00 to $635.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.36, for a total value of $2,048,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,574,850.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LMT. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% during 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. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Lockheed Martin by 1,075.2% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 481,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,841,000 after purchasing an additional 440,169 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,589,447 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,173,641,000 after buying an additional 336,588 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the first quarter worth $151,402,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 574,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $260,169,000 after buying an additional 274,680 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

LMT stock opened at $560.06 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $134.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.33. Lockheed Martin has a 52-week low of $393.77 and a 52-week high of $564.22.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $18.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 95.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.73 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin will post 26.71 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $3.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $12.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.10%.

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.