New Century Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,437 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,019,281 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 1,075.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 481,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $218,841,000 after purchasing an additional 440,169 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 953,285 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $433,621,000 after acquiring an additional 218,506 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 219.3% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 318,107 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $149,138,000 after purchasing an additional 218,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Lockheed Martin by 14.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,384,774 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $646,828,000 after buying an additional 180,074 shares during the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Melius raised Lockheed Martin from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $704.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $511.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $597.92.

Lockheed Martin Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LMT opened at $611.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 1-year low of $413.92 and a 1-year high of $614.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $578.29 and a 200 day moving average of $510.67.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.66. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 95.03% and a net margin of 9.48%. The firm had revenue of $18.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.68 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from Lockheed Martin’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin’s payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy S. Cahill sold 3,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $515.36, for a total value of $2,048,556.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,877 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,574,850.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lockheed Martin 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.