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

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $285.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $278.07 and its 200 day moving average is $258.67.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Markel Corp grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $94,181,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 294.2% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 791.6% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after acquiring an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.