Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Short Interest Down 18.8% in September

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a drop of 18.8% from the September 15th total of 2,930,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research raised Lockheed Martin to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $587.15.

Insider Activity at Lockheed Martin

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 8,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,574,850.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 50.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 60 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Lockheed Martin by 65.8% in the first quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC now owns 63 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 48.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 67 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lockheed Martin Stock Down 1.0 %

LMT stock traded down $5.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $605.00. 849,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $145.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $573.36 and its 200-day moving average is $506.67. Lockheed Martin has a 12 month low of $413.92 and a 12 month high of $614.62.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.45 by $0.66. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 95.03%. The business had revenue of $18.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin will post 26.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

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.