Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. decreased its holdings in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,105 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 10,188 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $38,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,942,658 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $902,714,000 after purchasing an additional 31,545 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559,178 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $911,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,609 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $646,828,000 after purchasing an additional 180,074 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 11.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,169,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $546,144,000 after purchasing an additional 119,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $476,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,281 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $519.00 to $626.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $675.00 to $665.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $611.00.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LMT traded down $0.70 on Friday, reaching $545.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 792,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,561. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 52-week low of $413.92 and a 52-week high of $618.95. The stock's 50-day moving average is $579.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $518.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.89 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a boost from Lockheed Martin's previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Lockheed Martin's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.62%.

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.