Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Stock Price Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) shares were up 1.5% on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $500.00 to $540.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Lockheed Martin traded as high as $554.27 and last traded at $551.2520. Approximately 2,958,526 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average daily volume of 2,817,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $542.92.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on LMT. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $543.00 price target (down from $630.00) on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $490.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Lockheed Martin in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Lockheed Martin from $517.00 to $492.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $517.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lockheed Martin news, COO John Frank A. St sold 7,792 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.04, for a total transaction 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 approximately $491.04. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 214,565 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $2,256,147,000 after buying an additional 19,459 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Lockheed Martin by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,384,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,190,493,000 after buying an additional 79,491 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Lockheed Martin by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,196,058 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,096,294,000 after buying an additional 87,663 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in 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 worth $510,662,000 after acquiring an additional 63,430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $127.56 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $473.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $468.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32.

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

About Lockheed Martin

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.