Citigroup Boosts General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Price Target to $320.00

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $300.00 to $320.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the aerospace company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on GD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $293.43.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $284.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. General Dynamics has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $296.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $280.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.88.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GD. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 411.5% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.