The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $241.00

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.24.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $256.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $268.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics has a one year low of $247.01 and a one year high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $70.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 13.66 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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.