General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) PT Raised to $310.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $285.00 to $310.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GD. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $284.48 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $78.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $278.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $258.85. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in General Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,667,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,212,024,000 after acquiring an additional 345,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,711,000 after acquiring an additional 259,855 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.