Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 10,358 Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,879 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,358 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Lockheed Martin worth $158,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 60,592.0% in 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 during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 56,626.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,021,081 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $476,947,000 after buying an additional 1,019,281 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lockheed Martin by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 450,870 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $263,561,000 after buying an additional 249,591 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 8.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,074,855 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,797,437,000 after buying an additional 240,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 6.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,389,025 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,981,088,000 after acquiring an additional 209,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $560.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $675.00 to $665.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Lockheed Martin from $705.00 to $695.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $612.29.

Lockheed Martin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LMT traded up $9.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $489.02. 3,964,597 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,100,334. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 12 month low of $413.92 and a 12 month high of $618.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $541.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $532.79. The firm has a market cap of $115.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.46.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The aerospace company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $17.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.38 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 101.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Lockheed Martin's previous quarterly dividend of $3.15. This represents a $13.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Lockheed Martin's dividend payout ratio is 47.79%.

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.