Morse Asset Management Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

Morse Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,605 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during 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 buying an additional 336,588 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 10,526.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,362,228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $617,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349,409 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,038,161 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $470,536,000 after purchasing an additional 27,349 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 953,285 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $433,621,000 after purchasing an additional 218,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 716,832 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $324,897,000 after purchasing an additional 9,136 shares during the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $511.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $508.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $518.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.91.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

LMT traded up $3.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $524.80. 1,141,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,686. The stock has a market cap of $125.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $469.59 and a 200 day moving average of $453.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 52 week low of $393.77 and a 52 week high of $528.64.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $18.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $3.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $12.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is currently 46.10%.

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.