General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) PT Raised to $298.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $280.00 to $298.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

GD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $285.63.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.0 %

GD stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $284.98. The stock had a trading volume of 689,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,321. The firm has a market cap of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $280.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.39. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $296.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,239 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $1,231,000. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,038 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,932 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,241,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Davies Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $249,000. 86.14% of the stock is 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.