The Goldman Sachs Group Increases General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $284.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $253.00 to $284.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $288.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $279.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.49. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $728,284,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in General Dynamics by 484.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,749,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $399,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,213 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 91,832.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,386,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $343,964,000 after buying an additional 1,384,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.