Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Lockheed Martin Corporation $LMT

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in shares of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) by 5.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,659,935 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 87,899 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $828,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,697,527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,048,993,000 after buying an additional 214,565 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 19,459 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,022,940 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $510,662,000 after acquiring an additional 63,430 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 863,839 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $400,079,000 after acquiring an additional 55,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 761,382 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $347,381,000 after acquiring an additional 108,553 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of LMT stock opened at $651.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $606.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $521.64. The company has a market cap of $149.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.22. Lockheed Martin Corporation has a 12-month low of $410.11 and a 12-month high of $692.00.

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

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Lockheed Martin

Here are the key news stories impacting Lockheed Martin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin company) and Robinson unveiled the R66 TURBINETRUCK — an autonomous, cargo-focused R66 equipped with Sikorsky’s MATRIX autonomy. This expands Sikorsky’s addressable market for unmanned logistics/resupply and showcases tech that could win commercial and defense programs. GlobeNewswire: MATRIX into R66 TURBINETRUCK
• Positive Sentiment: Company reports and coverage note a push to ramp munitions production and expand facilities to meet near-term Middle East allied demand — a direct revenue driver that can lift sales in the quarters ahead. Yahoo: Lockheed ramps munitions output
• Positive Sentiment: Lockheed won roughly $761 million in U.S. defense contracts, another near-term revenue/profits boost and evidence of continued program wins. Investing.com: $761M contracts
• Positive Sentiment: Sikorsky is rolling out an upgraded S‑92A+ with rising global demand and operator renewals — supports aftermarket, production and services revenue. TipRanks: S-92A+ rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment includes a higher price target ($735) and coverage arguing LMT is a long-term value pick — supportive for investor confidence and potential buying interest. AmericanBankingNews: Price target raised
• Positive Sentiment: Macro flows into defense ETFs as conflict in the region continues can provide sustained buyer demand for prime contractors like LMT. MarketBeat: Defense ETF rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Fundamental coverage (Zacks, others) highlights LMT as a long-term value/momentum stock — useful context but not an immediate catalyst. Zacks: Top value stock
• Negative Sentiment: Industry sentiment is mixed: a Barron’s piece notes defense stocks are slipping and that the Iran conflict hasn’t uniformly boosted the sector — sector weakness can pressure LMT despite company-specific wins. Barron’s: Defense stocks are down
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation/positioning critiques (e.g., Seeking Alpha pieces) warn that much of LMT’s upside may already be priced in, which can limit further near-term gains and encourage profit-taking. Seeking Alpha: Upside priced in
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed an EPS miss (Jan 29) even as revenue grew — a reminder that execution, program losses and high leverage remain investor concerns.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LMT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $492.00 to $611.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $618.95.

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.