General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $420.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $381.00 to $388.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $366.70.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.6%

General Dynamics stock opened at $363.60 on Friday. General Dynamics has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $369.70. The stock has a market cap of $98.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $346.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $332.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $12.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.49 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.89%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP David Paddock sold 20,360 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.92, for a total transaction of $6,818,971.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 36,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,272,808.48. The trade was a 35.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 650.0% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.