General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $333.00 to $352.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. General Dynamics traded as high as $310.22 and last traded at $308.10, with a volume of 126108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $308.23.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GD. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.18.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,216,599,000 after acquiring an additional 293,316 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 115,063 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $601,756,000 after purchasing an additional 47,915 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,927,000 after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,606,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $466,049,000 after buying an additional 23,304 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $84.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $299.34 and its 200 day moving average is $294.26.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.38 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

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.