Easterly Investment Partners LLC Trims Stake in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 10,526.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,349,409 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 1,075.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 481,106 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $218,841,000 after buying an additional 440,169 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 1st quarter worth about $151,402,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,302,719 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,120,920,000 after acquiring an additional 279,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LMT shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $467.00 to $487.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $508.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Lockheed Martin from $482.00 to $499.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $485.40.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LMT traded down $2.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $458.14. 272,369 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,065,115. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $465.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $451.23. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 52-week low of $393.77 and a 52-week high of $479.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $6.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.80 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.04 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 85.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 2.75%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend 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.