Wells Fargo & Company Lowers General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $279.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $279.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.39% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1 %

GD traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, reaching $259.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 206,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,653. The company has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $278.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $289.74.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 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.