A Closer Look at Lockheed Martin's Options Market Dynamics

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Lockheed Martin LMT.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the positions showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with LMT, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 14 options trades for Lockheed Martin.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 42% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the options we uncovered, there was 1 put, for a total amount of $34,950, and 13, calls, for a total amount of $4,240,113.

Predicted Price Range

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $480.0 and $620.0 for Lockheed Martin, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.

This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Lockheed Martin's options for a given strike price.

Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Lockheed Martin's whale activity within a strike price range from $480.0 to $620.0 in the last 30 days.

Lockheed Martin 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Largest Options Trades Observed:

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defense contractor and has dominated the Western market for high-end fighter aircraft since it won the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2001. Lockheed's largest segment is aeronautics, which derives upward of two-thirds of its revenue from the F-35. Lockheed's remaining segments are rotary and mission systems, mainly encompassing the Sikorsky helicopter business; missiles and fire control, which creates missiles and missile defense systems; and space systems, which produces satellites and receives equity income from the United Launch Alliance joint venture.

After a thorough review of the options trading surrounding Lockheed Martin, we move to examine the company in more detail. This includes an assessment of its current market status and performance.

Current Position of Lockheed Martin

• With a trading volume of 423,941, the price of LMT is up by 0.57%, reaching $558.18.
• Current RSI values indicate that the stock is may be approaching overbought.
• Next earnings report is scheduled for 50 days from now.

What Analysts Are Saying About Lockheed Martin

A total of 4 professional analysts have given their take on this stock in the last 30 days, setting an average price target of $584.75.

• In a positive move, an analyst from B of A Securities has upgraded their rating to Buy and adjusted the price target to $635.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Morgan Stanley keeps a Equal-Weight rating on Lockheed Martin with a target price of $599.
• An analyst from RBC Capital upgraded its action to Outperform with a price target of $600.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Barclays keeps a Equal-Weight rating on Lockheed Martin with a target price of $505.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Lockheed Martin, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.