Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Up 2.3% – What’s Next?

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s share price traded up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $466.39 and last traded at $466.2670. 1,176,030 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 1,580,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $455.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LMT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $497.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Lockheed Martin from $490.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Vertical Research reissued a “hold” rating and set a $460.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Lockheed Martin from $398.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $513.47.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $484.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.25.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The aerospace company reported $6.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by $0.62. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 111.84% and a net margin of 5.73%.The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Lockheed Martin has set its FY 2025 guidance at 22.150-22.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 27.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $3.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.30. This represents a $13.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lockheed Martin news, COO John Frank A. St sold 7,792 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.04, for a total value of $3,826,183.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $491.04. The trade was a 99.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,697,527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,048,993,000 after acquiring an additional 214,565 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,031,528 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,587,444,000 after purchasing an additional 560,457 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,884,954 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,256,147,000 after purchasing an additional 19,459 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,384,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,190,493,000 after buying an additional 79,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 1.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,287,495 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,021,846,000 after buying an additional 31,443 shares during the period. 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.