General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target Cut to $305.00 by Analysts at Barclays

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $330.00 to $305.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

GD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $261.35 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $71.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.