Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Price Target to $543.00

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $602.00 to $543.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $675.00 to $665.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.29.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of LMT stock opened at $494.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $555.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $531.74. The company has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.46. Lockheed Martin has a 52 week low of $413.92 and a 52 week high of $618.95.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.50 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.77 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin will post 26.88 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. This is an increase from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,609 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $476,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,281 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 450,870 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $263,561,000 after acquiring an additional 249,591 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,074,855 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,797,437,000 after buying an additional 240,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,389,025 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,981,088,000 after buying an additional 209,591 shares during the period. 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.