General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Lowered to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $317.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $334.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised General Dynamics from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research started coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $317.06.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $300.66 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.93. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $214.53 and a fifty-two week high of $309.97. The firm has a market cap of $82.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 293,316 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 115,063 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after acquiring an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $601,756,000 after acquiring an additional 47,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,927,000 after acquiring an additional 23,262 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.