Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $2.66 Million Investment in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 5,464 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,655,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,984 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,928 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,401,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LMT. Melius Research cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Lockheed Martin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $700.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $685.00 to $485.00 in a report on Monday, March 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lockheed Martin presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.80.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of LMT stock opened at $459.56 on Wednesday. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 12 month low of $418.88 and a 12 month high of $618.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $462.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $481.44.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The aerospace company reported $7.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.34 by $0.94. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 101.47%. The firm had revenue of $17.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.83 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total value of $312,925.27. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,008,265.58. This represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total transaction of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,840. This trade represents a 61.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lockheed Martin Company Profile

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.