General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Given New $241.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its target price decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $245.00 to $241.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on GD. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $301.24.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $256.93 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $247.01 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $268.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $287.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.26%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,940,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 26,755 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,166 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is 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.