Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays has raised its price target for General Dynamics from $285 to $350, indicating a potential upside of 10.81% from the stock's previous closing price.
• General Dynamics reported $3.74 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking an 8.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Institutional investors hold 86.14% of General Dynamics, with hedge fund activity showing significant increases in ownership among several investment firms recently.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $285.00 to $350.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the aerospace company's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 12.74% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Dynamics from $284.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. TD Securities raised their price target on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $315.78.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD traded down $1.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $310.45. The company had a trading volume of 891,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,841. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $322.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company's 50-day moving average is $291.05 and its 200-day moving average is $273.88. The company has a market capitalization of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%. The firm had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 43,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.28, for a total transaction of $13,696,600.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,452,165. This represents a 52.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,483 shares in the company, valued at $1,715,137.23. This represents a 50.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 268,370 shares of company stock valued at $78,408,011 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GD. Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 213.8% in the 1st quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $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.