Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Stock Jumps 1% on Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT)’s stock price traded up 1% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $600.00 to $700.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as high as $644.25 and last traded at $643.4720. Approximately 1,551,452 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 1,467,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $636.95.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LMT. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $620.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Monday, October 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $629.00 to $564.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Lockheed Martin from $653.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $620.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Lockheed Martin in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $650.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $642.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,975,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,799,530,000 after buying an additional 419,582 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter worth about $9,617,574,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 3,983.3% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 7,110,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,622,750,000 after buying an additional 6,936,814 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter worth about $645,258,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Lockheed Martin during the second quarter valued at about $497,469,000. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 1.0%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $544.17 and a 200-day moving average of $568.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.09.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.52 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $20.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.48 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 83.41% and a net margin of 8.23%. Lockheed Martin’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 30.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $3.60 per share. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.45. This represents a $14.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.15%.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation is a global security and aerospace company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Formed in 1995 through the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, the company develops and produces advanced defense, aerospace, and technology systems for government and commercial customers.

Its principal business areas include Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space. Products and services include military aircraft such as the F-35 Lightning II, C-130 Hercules, and F-16 Fighting Falcon; missile-defense and precision-strike systems; helicopters and naval systems; command, control, communications, and intelligence technologies; satellites; space exploration systems; and other classified space and defense programs.

Lockheed Martin serves the U.S.