Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Down 2.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)’s share price traded down 2.1% during trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $602.00 to $543.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as low as $488.71 and last traded at $493.66. 570,360 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,078,669 shares. The stock had previously closed at $504.24.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on LMT. UBS Group raised their price target on Lockheed Martin from $589.00 to $603.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Melius upgraded Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,827,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,816,898,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,389,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,981,088,000 after purchasing an additional 209,591 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 8.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,074,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,797,437,000 after buying an additional 240,306 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $902,714,000 after buying an additional 31,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,433,000 after buying an additional 1,556,609 shares in the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $555.00 and its 200 day moving average is $531.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.46.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The business had revenue of $17.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.77 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is a boost from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 47.79%.

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.