Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)’s share price shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $477.22 and last traded at $476.59. 195,613 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,235,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $474.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LMT. Melius Research downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $515.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America cut Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $685.00 to $485.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $535.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lockheed Martin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $536.60.

Lockheed Martin Stock Down 1.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $450.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.22. The firm has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.47% and a net margin of 7.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is 59.30%.

Insider Transactions at Lockheed Martin

In related news, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total transaction of $312,925.27. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at $1,008,265.58. This represents a 23.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total value of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $884,840. This represents a 61.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,471,071 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,630,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,461 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,887,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,374,557,000 after buying an additional 59,597 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,260,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,098,667,000 after purchasing an additional 134,662 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,131,928 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,035,989,000 after acquiring an additional 318,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 41,104.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,991,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $889,593,000 after buying an additional 1,986,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

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.