Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $653.48 and last traded at $651.5180, with a volume of 306824 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $637.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $605.00 to $695.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. DZ Bank cut Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $665.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $675.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $580.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $612.50.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 2.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $150.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $541.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $492.08.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.53). The company had revenue of $20.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.84 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 108.53% and a net margin of 6.69%.Lockheed Martin’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $3.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $13.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 29,639 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,031 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Lockheed Martin during the third quarter valued at $3,075,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 22.4% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 25,423 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,688,000 after buying an additional 4,652 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 39,410 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $19,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,352 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Company Profile

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is a global aerospace and defense company that designs, develops and manufactures advanced technology systems for government and commercial customers. Formed through the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and focuses on providing integrated solutions across air, space, land and sea domains. Its primary customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and allied governments around the world.

Lockheed Martin’s product and service portfolio spans military aircraft, missile and fire-control systems, missile defense, space systems and satellite technologies, sensors and precision weapons.