J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded LMT to "overweight" from "neutral"
U.S.-based defense stocks are on the rise today, as tensions build in the Middle East. Following a retaliatory attack by Iran on Israel over the weekend, J.P. Morgan Securities upgraded Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) to "overweight" from "neutral," with a price-target hike to $518 from $475.
At last glance, LMT was up 1.1% at $455.13, and trading at its highest levels since late January. The equity is fresh off a weekly loss, which snapped a five-week win streak after the stock's rebound from its February lows. The 200-day moving average appears to be moving in as support, having caught last week's farthest pullback, and the equity is today moving back into positive territory for 2024.
Over in the options pits, LMT calls are being traded at four time the intraday average amount. The June 500 call is the most popular by far, followed by the April 470 call.
The options pits have been particularly bullish leading up to today as well. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), both Lockheed Martin stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 10.37 and 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.23 rank higher than all other readings from the past year.
There is still plenty of room for an optimistic shift amongst analysts, however. After today's bull note, 18 of the 25 analysts in coverage still carry a "hold" or worse rating on LMT.