Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on LMT. Bank of America downgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $685.00 to $485.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Melius downgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Lockheed Martin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $550.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $515.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Eight investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $544.79.

Lockheed Martin Trading Down 1.2 %

LMT opened at $472.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The firm has a market cap of $110.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.39. Lockheed Martin has a 52 week low of $418.88 and a 52 week high of $618.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $459.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $487.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total value of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,840. The trade was a 61.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,265.58. This represents a 23.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LMT. Markel Group Inc. increased its position in Lockheed Martin by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 61,463 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $27,456,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 244.4% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 47.1% during the first quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 8,373 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,123 shares during the period. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp grew its position in Lockheed Martin by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 1,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.