Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) shares were down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $534.07 and last traded at $537.67. Approximately 427,817 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 1,057,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $538.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LMT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $483.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Melius upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $675.00 to $665.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $589.00 to $603.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $611.00.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $126.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $577.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $523.91.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.50 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. Lockheed Martin’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.89 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $3.30 dividend. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LMT. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,389,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,981,088,000 after acquiring an additional 209,591 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 1.7% in 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $911,433,000 after buying an additional 1,556,609 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during 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 buying an additional 180,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,144,000 after buying an additional 119,052 shares during the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.