Bank of America Issues Positive Forecast for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective lifted by Bank of America from $400.00 to $415.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $380.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.15.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $376.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.90. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $293.95 and a 1-year high of $380.71. The stock has a market cap of $101.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $344.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $348.40.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 16.63 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total transaction of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,000,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,884,695. The trade was a 33.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 78,190 shares of company stock valued at $27,041,022. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,812,058,000 after buying an additional 294,456 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,786,786,000 after acquiring an additional 114,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after acquiring an additional 187,435 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.