General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target Lowered to $300.00 at Morgan Stanley

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $305.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.83.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $272.30 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $264.21 and a 200 day moving average of $271.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 213.8% during the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 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.