Susquehanna Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target dropped by research analysts at Susquehanna from $330.00 to $315.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “positive” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price indicates a potential upside of 21.25% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $259.79. 206,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,278,653. General Dynamics has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $278.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $289.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $71.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.