Barclays Increases General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $325.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $310.00 to $325.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus raised their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on General Dynamics from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $312.17.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE GD opened at $292.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.58. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $214.53 and a 12 month high of $302.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 6,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.58, for a total value of $1,784,225.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 76,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,605,624.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,499 shares of company stock worth $15,554,941 over the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $728,284,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth about $179,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $145,048,000 after buying an additional 543,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in General Dynamics by 879.9% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 340,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $96,148,000 after buying an additional 305,624 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.