Lockheed Martin Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:LMT)

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 155,267 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,691% compared to the average daily volume of 8,670 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $654.00 price target on shares of Lockheed Martin in a research report on Friday, February 6th. 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 report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Lockheed Martin from $515.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $580.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lockheed Martin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $612.50.

More Lockheed Martin News

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

Institutional Trading of Lockheed Martin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LMT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 107.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,293,823 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $625,784,000 after buying an additional 669,604 shares in the last quarter. Tableaux LLC increased its stake in Lockheed Martin by 34,231.4% in the second quarter. Tableaux LLC now owns 623,115 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $288,589,000 after purchasing an additional 621,300 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Lockheed Martin by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,728,551 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,770,729,000 after buying an additional 527,523 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,699,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 203.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 560,363 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $271,031,000 after acquiring an additional 375,622 shares during the period. 74.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lockheed Martin Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:LMT traded up $17.61 on Friday, hitting $659.24. 2,597,148 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,932,073. Lockheed Martin has a 1-year low of $410.11 and a 1-year high of $669.75. The company has a market capitalization of $151.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $578.05 and its 200 day moving average is $508.04.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $5.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.33 by ($0.53). Lockheed Martin had a return on equity of 108.53% and a net margin of 6.69%.The business had revenue of $20.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.67 EPS. Lockheed Martin’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lockheed Martin will post 27.15 EPS for the current year.

Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given 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 payout ratio is 64.22%.

Lockheed Martin Company Profile

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.