General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $323.69.

Several brokerages have weighed in on GD. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $177,881,000 after buying an additional 5,069 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.6 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $284.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $298.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.57. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $245.01 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $78.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.