Analysts Set General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) PT at $387.40

Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $387.40.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2%

GD opened at $341.46 on Thursday. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $339.82 and its 200 day moving average is $346.36.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% 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 GD. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 453.3% in the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 9,418 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 703.4% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,548 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,235 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 917,424 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $312,842,000 after acquiring an additional 32,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 114.7% during the 3rd quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,124 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after buying an additional 3,271 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.