Wells Fargo & Company Cuts General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $279.00

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

GD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:GD opened at $259.38 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $276.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $289.08. 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 (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GD. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after acquiring an additional 44,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.