General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.63.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $284.41 on Thursday. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $280.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.71.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $728,284,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% 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.