Brokerages Set General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) PT at $283.80

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $283.80.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna increased their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $281.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. General Dynamics has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $280.26 and a 200 day moving average of $261.22.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 17.1% in the third quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after purchasing an additional 119,264 shares during 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.