Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 2,913 Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,291 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,913 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $5,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RiverFront Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $286,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,378 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,903,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Slagle Financial LLC raised its position in Lockheed Martin by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Slagle Financial LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 4th quarter valued at $697,000. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 17,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,643,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $535.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $565.00 to $515.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Lockheed Martin from $527.00 to $508.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Lockheed Martin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $550.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $685.00 to $485.00 in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $539.53.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of LMT stock opened at $441.41 on Friday. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 12 month low of $419.70 and a 12 month high of $618.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $456.49 and its 200 day moving average is $510.30.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The aerospace company reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.58 by $1.09. Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 101.47% and a net margin of 7.51%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $3.30 dividend. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total value of $1,421,495.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $884,840. This represents a 61.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.61, for a total value of $312,925.27. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,008,265.58. This represents a 23.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,133 shares of company stock worth $3,155,916 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.