Meritage Portfolio Management Raises Stake in Lockheed Martin Corporation $LMT

Key Points

• Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Lockheed Martin by 950.3%, now owning 5,577 shares after buying an additional 5,046 shares, with the position valued at about $2.697 million.
• Operational momentum includes a roughly $137 million U.S. defense contract win and the launch of the final GPS III satellite, events that boosted investor confidence and sparked an >800% spike in retail chatter, raising short-term volume and volatility risk.
• Lockheed reported a quarterly EPS miss ($5.80 vs. $6.33 consensus) despite revenue beating estimates, and analysts maintain a consensus "Hold" with a $645.79 target; the company pays a $3.45 quarterly dividend (2.4% yield).

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its position in Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT - Free Report) by 950.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,577 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $2,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LMT. United Financial Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lockheed Martin by 285.7% in the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Beacon Financial Strategies CORP bought a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Lockheed Martin

Here are the key news stories impacting Lockheed Martin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Lockheed won roughly $137 million in new U.S. defense contracts, a direct revenue/backlog boost that supports medium-term cash flow visibility and program momentum. Lockheed Martin wins $137M in defense contracts
• Positive Sentiment: Lockheed launched the final GPS III satellite, highlighting progress on higher-margin space programs and signaling follow-on production for the next-gen GPS IIIF family. That operational win is underpinning investor confidence in space revenue streams. Lockheed Martin Launches GPS III Satellite
• Positive Sentiment: Retail chatter around LMT spiked over 800% after the GPS III launch and contract headlines, which can drive short-term volume and volatility (both upside and downside). Monitor social-driven flows for intraday swings. LMT stock sees over 800% jump in retail chatter
• Neutral Sentiment: General Atomics was awarded to deliver infrared payloads that will integrate into Lockheed’s SDA Tracking Layer Tranche 3 work — a subcontract that confirms Lockheed’s prime role but is not a large standalone revenue event. General Atomics to Deliver Infrared Payloads
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst pieces comparing LMT vs. peers (General Dynamics) and highlighting LMT as a value/wide-moat name keep the stock on watchlists; these reports frame longer-term positioning but don’t force immediate price moves. LMT vs. GD: Which Defense Stock Looks More Attractive Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain cautious ahead of Q1 earnings: recent coverage notes a near-term EPS pullback and a prior quarter EPS miss despite revenue strength — reasons for profit-taking and the recent share-price pullback. Expect sensitivity to guidance and margins at the upcoming report. Is It Time To Revisit Lockheed Martin (LMT)?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LMT. UBS Group lifted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $580.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Lockheed Martin from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $600.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Lockheed Martin from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $675.00 target price on shares of Lockheed Martin in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $645.79.

Lockheed Martin Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of LMT stock opened at $572.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.23. Lockheed Martin Corporation has a 12-month low of $410.11 and a 12-month high of $692.00. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $634.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $553.07.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.53). The firm had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.84 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 108.53%. Lockheed Martin's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 29.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $3.45 per share. This represents a $13.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. Lockheed Martin's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.22%.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation NYSE: LMT is a global aerospace and defense company that designs, develops and manufactures advanced technology systems for government and commercial customers. Formed through the 1995 merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta, the company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and focuses on providing integrated solutions across air, space, land and sea domains. Its primary customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, NASA and allied governments around the world.

Lockheed Martin's product and service portfolio spans military aircraft, missile and fire-control systems, missile defense, space systems and satellite technologies, sensors and precision weapons.

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