General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $388.40.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 202.0% in the second quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors now owns 598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 14,532 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,148,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 597.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 14.7% during the first quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $373.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $100.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $292.34 and a 12 month high of $373.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $344.97 and a 200-day moving average of $348.40.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 16.63 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.