Lockheed Martin shares close lower on Thursday, company forms joint venture with MBDA related to missile defense project in Germany

Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) and the German unit of missiles manufacturer MBDA announced on Thursday they had formed a joint company in order to continue the development of a new air and missile defense system, which is still being conditioned with Germanys defense ministry.

Lockheed Martin shares closed lower for the second time in the past five trading sessions on Thursday. The stock edged down 0.12% ($0.42) to $341.78, after touching an intraday high at $343.70, or a price level not seen since March 6th ($343.99).

In the week ended on March 4th the shares of the global security and aerospace company lost 4.73% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of decrease. It has also been the worst performance since the week ended on November 6th 2016.

The stock has extended its loss to 3.02% so far during the current month, following a 0.68% drop in February. The latter has been the first monthly retreat since last October.

For the entire past year, Lockheed Martin shares rose 28.45% following another 15.10% surge in 2016.

The joint venture is expected to be the prime contractor for the new TLVS system, negotiations over which began in 2015.

According to Gregory Kee, who is to head the joint company from Lockheed Martins side, the defense ministrys procurement arm was anticipating the new missile defense system to be delivered by only one prime contractor.

“This formal registration of the joint venture is intended to provide that capability to act as a single prime contractor to ensure that our German customer receives the most advanced system in the world”, Kee was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“We continue to support the process and are responding to the government’s requirements. We respect that process. Until that process is complete, we can’t talk about the price or the timetable”, he added.

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Lockheed Martin’s stock price, have a median target of $376.00, with a high estimate of $457.00 and a low estimate of $284.00. The median estimate is a 10.01% surge compared to the closing price of $341.78 on March 8th.

The same media also reported that 14 out of 22 surveyed investment analysts had rated Lockheed Martin Corporation’s stock as “Hold”, while 7 – as “Buy”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Lockheed Martin stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $342.18
R2 – $342.58
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $342.98
R4 (Long Breakout) – $344.18
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $345.58
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $346.17

S1 – $341.38
S2 – $340.98
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $340.58
S4 (Short Breakout) – $339.38
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $337.98
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $337.39

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $346.36
R1 – $357.68
R2 – $373.63
R3 – $384.95
R4 – $396.26

S1 – $330.41
S2 – $319.09
S3 – $303.14
S4 – $287.18