BTIG Research Begins Coverage on General Dynamics (NYSE:GD)

BTIG Research started coverage on shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $345.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock.

GD has been the subject of several other reports. Argus raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $303.24.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $290.14 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $210.65 and a twelve month high of $302.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $294.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.73. The company has a market capitalization of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. 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, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, VP William A. Moss sold 21,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.85, for a total value of $6,206,592.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 16,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,901,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,351,041,000 after acquiring an additional 115,063 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $728,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.