Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Trading Up 2.7% – Here’s Why

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $662.47 and last traded at $659.2410. 2,586,777 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 34% from the average session volume of 1,925,786 shares. The stock had previously closed at $641.63.

Trending Headlines about Lockheed Martin

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

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual call buying — Traders bought 155,267 LMT call options today (roughly a 1,691% jump versus typical daily call volume), a strongly bullish signal that likely pushed intraday prices higher.
• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven manufacturing interest — Industry research highlights growing investment in AI-driven, software-defined defense factories and notes primes like Lockheed as potential beneficiaries, supporting longer-term revenue/efficiency upside. AI-Driven Defense Manufacturing Infrastructure Report 2025-2030
• Positive Sentiment: Relative strength vs. broader market — Coverage noting LMT is outperforming the Nasdaq and that the Street remains constructive likely reinforced investor confidence and buying momentum. Is Lockheed Martin Stock Outperforming the Nasdaq?
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/industry commentary on durable growth — Recent write-ups emphasize Lockheed’s predictable revenue profile and geopolitical hedge, supporting a bullish/defensive case for the stock. Lockheed Martin: Robust, Predictable Growth With Geopolitical Hedge Built In
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation/positioning view — Some analyst pieces call Lockheed operationally strong but “fully priced,” recommending a hold rather than buy, which tempers upside despite positive fundamentals. Operationally Strong, Valuation Fully Priced – Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Pentagon/Anthropic scrutiny — The Pentagon’s dispute with Anthropic and requests for defense primes (including Lockheed) to report any reliance on Anthropic’s Claude model raise supply‑chain/third‑party AI risk concerns; this creates short‑term uncertainty about contract requirements, certification, or replacement costs. Pentagon Anthropic feud has sales and AI warfare at stake Pentagon asks Boeing, Lockheed Martin about their exposure to Anthropic

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LMT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lockheed Martin from $464.00 to $517.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Lockheed Martin from $592.00 to $673.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Lockheed Martin from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. DZ Bank lowered Lockheed Martin from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $665.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lockheed Martin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $612.50.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 2.7%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $581.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $510.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.33 by ($0.53). Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 108.53%. The business had revenue of $20.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.67 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Lockheed Martin Corporation will post 27.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $3.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $13.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Lockheed Martin’s dividend payout ratio is 64.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lockheed Martin

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 5.4% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Integrity Financial Corp WA bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.19% of the company’s stock.

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.