Analysts Set General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) PT at $315.06

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $315.06.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday, July 29th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,216,599,000 after buying an additional 293,316 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 115,063 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after buying an additional 24,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $308.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $214.53 and a 1 year high of $309.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $295.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.