In This Article:
Key Insights
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Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Lockheed Martin's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
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A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership
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Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
Every investor in Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 74% to be precise, is institutions. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Lockheed Martin, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Lockheed Martin
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lockheed Martin?
Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.
We can see that Lockheed Martin does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Lockheed Martin's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Lockheed Martin. The company's largest shareholder is State Street Global Advisors, Inc., with ownership of 15%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 11% and 9.1%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.
We also observed that the top 8 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.
While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.