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

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

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

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.2 %

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

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. 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 is 47.25%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,667,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,212,024,000 after acquiring an additional 345,554 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,711,000 after acquiring an additional 259,855 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.