General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $367.66 and last traded at $367.5250, with a volume of 547275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $381.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $360.95.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.58. The firm has a market cap of $99.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.27% and a net margin of 8.18%.The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.35 earnings per share. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.300-15.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 91,730 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,928,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,921 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birch Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Birch Financial Group LLC now owns 12,251 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,124,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.