General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Given “Neutral” Rating at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird restated their neutral rating on shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $283.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $345.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GD. Barclays dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $264.92 on Tuesday. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $72.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.