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

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

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.63.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GD stock traded up $3.86 on Thursday, hitting $284.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,769,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,113,098. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $202.35 and a fifty-two week high of $296.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $280.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GD. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 46.8% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by 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.