Sanford C. Bernstein Boosts General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $302.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price target raised by Sanford C. Bernstein from $290.00 to $302.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on GD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $300.63.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE GD opened at $299.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $289.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $301.48. The stock has a market cap of $82.20 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.67.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 12,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.59, for a total transaction of $3,585,476.51. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 64,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,020,909.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st 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. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $728,284,000. 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.