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

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $261.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $277.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $289.54. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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.