Wells Fargo & Company Lowers General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $244.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $276.00 to $244.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $252.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $68.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $258.31 and its 200 day moving average is $281.17. General Dynamics has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.