General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Share Price Breaks Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $355.05 and traded as low as $348.94. General Dynamics shares last traded at $353.8810, with a volume of 1,219,081 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $430.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $365.00 to $386.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $420.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $408.94.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $349.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.05. The company has a market capitalization of $95.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $4.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $14.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.72 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 8.24%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 17.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Robert K. Steel sold 7,440 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.05, for a total value of $2,574,612.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,071,370.80. This represents a 70.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 454.0% during the second quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 180,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $64,088,000 after purchasing an additional 148,262 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $21,368,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,781,000. Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 67,028 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,744,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,254,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that develops and manufactures products and provides services for commercial, government and military customers. Its businesses span aerospace, marine systems, combat systems and defense technologies.

The company makes Gulfstream business jets and provides aircraft services. Its marine systems operations design and build submarines and surface ships, while its combat systems business produces military vehicles, weapons systems and munitions.