NS Partners Ltd Sells 888 Shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT)

NS Partners Ltd lessened its position in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,070 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $16,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LMT. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 1,401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $305,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 270,879 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $158,345,000 after buying an additional 10,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 629 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LMT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $570.00 to $550.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $468.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $554.20.

Lockheed Martin Stock Performance

Shares of LMT opened at $474.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $462.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $521.83. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 1 year low of $419.70 and a 1 year high of $618.95.

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 net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 101.47%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $3.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $13.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Harry Edward Paul III sold 707 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,008,265.58. The trade was a 23.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert M. Lightfoot, Jr. sold 3,213 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $442.42, for a total transaction of $1,421,495.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,840. This trade represents a 61.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.