Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Short Interest Down 22.9% in March

Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,620,000 shares, a drop of 22.9% from the February 28th total of 3,400,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $611.00 to $523.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Lockheed Martin from $527.00 to $508.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $515.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Lockheed Martin from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $539.53.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Lockheed Martin

In other news, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,008,265.58. This trade represents a 23.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $884,840. This trade represents a 61.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916 over the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lockheed Martin

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 53,784.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,235,568 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $600,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233,275 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Lockheed Martin by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,471,071 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,630,492,000 after buying an additional 1,132,461 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 4th quarter valued at about $526,587,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the fourth quarter valued at about $451,985,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 1,239.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 548,237 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $266,410,000 after acquiring an additional 507,312 shares in the last quarter. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 1.0 %

LMT stock traded up $4.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $452.92. 1,268,804 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,649,651. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. Lockheed Martin has a 1 year low of $419.70 and a 1 year high of $618.95. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $454.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $508.19.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.47% and a net margin of 7.51%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin will post 27.15 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $3.30 per share. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Lockheed Martin's payout ratio is 59.30%.

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.