Who Is Buying Lockheed Martin? Hedge Fund Activity in 2026

Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defense contractor, the maker of the F-35 Lightning II, Black Hawk helicopters, and a sprawling portfolio of missile defense systems that form the backbone of Western military capability. In an era of escalating geopolitical tensions — from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine to rising concerns in the Indo-Pacific — you might expect institutional money to be flooding into LMT. The reality, based on the latest 13F filings, tells a very different story.

Of the 18 major hedge funds and institutional managers actively holding Lockheed Martin, 11 are selling or reducing their positions. That makes LMT the most bearish defense stock in our entire tracking universe — a striking disconnect from the bullish defense narrative dominating retail investor sentiment.

Institutional Activity at a Glance

• Funds Buying: 3
• Funds Selling: 11
• Funds Holding: 4
• Active Funds Tracked: 18 of 35

A 3-to-11 buy-sell ratio is an extraordinary signal. When over 60% of tracked institutional money is heading for the exits on a defense blue chip, it raises serious questions about whether LMT's valuation has gotten ahead of the actual revenue trajectory — or whether smart money sees contract risks that the broader market hasn't priced in yet.

Who's Buying LMT?

Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, three funds are actively increasing their Lockheed Martin exposure:

D.E. Shaw holds a substantial $835 million position and increased during the quarter. David E. Shaw's quantitative powerhouse clearly sees value in LMT's current price level, and a position of this size represents genuine conviction rather than a token allocation. Shaw's models may be identifying mean-reversion opportunities as the stock has pulled back from its highs.

Appaloosa Management holds $805.8 million and increased its stake. David Tepper's Appaloosa is known for contrarian, high-conviction bets — particularly in sectors where sentiment has soured. The fact that Tepper is buying while 11 other funds sell is classic Appaloosa: lean into the pain when valuations become attractive.

Renaissance Technologies initiated a NEW $94.3 million position. Jim Simons' legendary quant fund entering LMT fresh is notable. Renaissance's models process vast amounts of data to identify statistical edges, and a new position of nearly $100 million suggests their algorithms have flagged an opportunity in the defense giant.

Who's Selling LMT?

The selling side reads like a who's who of institutional investing — 11 funds reducing exposure makes this an unusually crowded exit:

Vanguard decreased its position from what remains one of the largest institutional holdings in LMT. As the world's second-largest asset manager, Vanguard's reduction reflects both index rebalancing dynamics and the sheer weight of outflows from defense-heavy ETFs.

State Street also reduced its massive position. Together with Vanguard, these two passive giants reducing simultaneously creates meaningful selling pressure in the open market.

T. Rowe Price decreased its holding, signaling that one of the most respected active managers in growth investing sees limited upside from current levels. T. Rowe's research teams are deep in aerospace and defense — when they trim, it's research-driven.

Fidelity reduced its position as well. Having four of the largest institutional managers all trimming at the same time is a powerful convergence signal that's difficult to ignore.

Additional sellers include Two Sigma, Millennium Management, Citadel, and several others, creating a broad-based institutional retreat that spans both quantitative and fundamental strategies.

Notable Moves

The most striking development is the sheer breadth of selling. Having 11 out of 18 tracked funds reducing positions simultaneously is one of the most lopsided sell ratios we've recorded for any stock in the current filing period. For context, even controversial tech names rarely see this level of institutional consensus on the sell side.

Renaissance Technologies' NEW entry stands out precisely because it goes against the grain. When the most successful quantitative fund in history opens a fresh $94.3 million position while 11 funds sell, it suggests Renaissance's models have identified a statistical mispricing that human-driven funds are missing.

The D.E. Shaw and Appaloosa increases are also contrarian signals. Both firms have track records of profiting from crowded trades — and with 11 funds selling, the LMT short-term trade is certainly crowded on the sell side.

What This Signals

The institutional picture for Lockheed Martin is the most bearish of any defense stock we track. The 3-to-11 buy-sell ratio suggests that despite the bullish geopolitical backdrop, professional investors see risks that aren't obvious from the headlines alone.

Several factors may be driving this exodus. LMT's valuation has expanded significantly over the past two years, pricing in a multi-year defense spending boom that may not materialize as aggressively as expected. Supply chain constraints continue to limit the company's ability to ramp F-35 production, creating a gap between bookings and actual revenue recognition. And there's growing political uncertainty around defense budgets — even in an environment of rising global tensions, domestic fiscal pressures could constrain Pentagon spending growth.

The contrarian buyers — D.E. Shaw, Appaloosa, and Renaissance — are all quantitatively sophisticated firms known for identifying value when consensus is wrong. If LMT's selling pressure creates an attractive entry point, these three could be early to what eventually becomes a re-rating higher.

For individual investors, the takeaway is nuanced: the defense thesis remains intact, but the stock's current valuation may already reflect the good news. Smart money is taking profits, and only the most contrarian, quantitatively-driven funds are stepping in to buy.

Track LMT with Freenance Smart Money

Track LMT and 77,111 other institutional positions across 35 hedge funds with $21.4 trillion in combined AUM. See real-time buying and selling activity at app.freenance.io/smart-money/ticker/LMT.

Related Articles

• Who Is Buying NVIDIA? Hedge Fund Activity in 2026
• Who Is Buying Apple? Hedge Fund Activity in 2026
• Who Is Buying Tesla? Hedge Fund Activity in 2026

FAQ

Why is institutional money selling Lockheed Martin (LMT) despite geopolitical tensions?

The 3-to-11 buy-sell ratio reflects concerns that LMT's valuation has already priced in a multi-year defense spending boom. Supply chain constraints continue to cap F-35 production, and domestic fiscal pressures could limit Pentagon budget growth even with global tensions rising. The selling is a signal about price-versus-fundamentals, not necessarily about the defense thesis itself.

What does Renaissance's new $94.3M LMT position suggest?

A fresh position from Renaissance Technologies is notable because their models process enormous datasets and rarely initiate against a crowded sell. The entry suggests their algorithms see a statistical mispricing that fundamentally-driven funds may be missing. It is one of the few contrarian buy signals in the 13F.

How does the F-35 program affect LMT's institutional appeal?

The F-35 is Lockheed's flagship platform and a massive backlog driver, but production ramp has been slowed by supply chain bottlenecks affecting engine and avionics suppliers. The gap between bookings and revenue recognition is part of what is unsettling institutional holders. Long-term, the program remains the backbone of Western air power.

Why are D.E. Shaw and Appaloosa buying when 11 other funds sell?

Both shops are known for contrarian positioning when sentiment becomes lopsided. D.E. Shaw holds $835M and Appaloosa $805.8M — these are conviction-sized positions, not token bets. Their thesis is essentially that the selling has pushed LMT into mean-reversion territory.

What is the takeaway from LMT's 13F data for individual investors?

The data is informational: defense fundamentals remain solid, but smart money sees the current price as ahead of the actual revenue trajectory. Only contrarian, quantitatively-driven funds are stepping in to accumulate. None of this is a buy or sell recommendation — it is a snapshot of institutional positioning that individual investors can factor into their own research.