Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $269.50 and last traded at $269.21, with a volume of 42715 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $267.69.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.69.
General Dynamics Price Performance
The company has a 50 day moving average of $255.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.25. The firm has a market cap of $73.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.68. 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 (NYSE:GD – Get Free Report) last announced its 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.58 EPS for the current year.
General Dynamics Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 18th. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.93%.
Insider Activity at General Dynamics
In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were 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 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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $607,393,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 484.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $343,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth about $271,432,000. 86.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.