General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target Lowered to $279.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $279.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GD. Barclays decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $261.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $289.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

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

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring 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 $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently 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.