Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Rating Increased to Buy at Melius

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) was upgraded by research analysts at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $704.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock. Melius’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.48% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $483.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Lockheed Martin from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $500.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $503.00 to $599.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $518.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.43.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

NYSE LMT opened at $574.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $520.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $476.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.24. Lockheed Martin has a fifty-two week low of $393.77 and a fifty-two week high of $578.73.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $18.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 95.03% and a net margin of 9.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin will post 26.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lockheed Martin news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $515.36, for a total transaction of $2,048,556.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,574,850.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,589,447 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,173,641,000 after acquiring an additional 336,588 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $902,714,000 after acquiring an additional 31,545 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,384,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,828,000 after acquiring an additional 180,074 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,144,000 after acquiring an additional 119,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $476,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,281 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

About Lockheed Martin

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.