General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Receives $305.56 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $305.56.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $281.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $293.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $212.58 and a 1-year high of $302.75. The company has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.60.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after buying an additional 115,063 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after buying an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $728,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.