General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on GD. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised General Dynamics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.78.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.8%

GD stock opened at $343.76 on Friday. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $345.22. 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 has a market capitalization of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.12.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 8.13%.The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.050-15.150 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 129,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.57, for a total value of $40,478,751.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $241,325,666.99. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 33,740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.20, for a total transaction of $10,634,848.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,244,518.40. This trade represents a 42.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,020 shares of company stock worth $86,414,503 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,140,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,249,220,000 after acquiring an additional 119,664 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 4.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,502,305 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,499,819,000 after purchasing an additional 256,687 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 25.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,439,720 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,003,444,000 after purchasing an additional 691,340 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,385,573 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $695,776,000 after buying an additional 9,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,712,190 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $499,377,000 after buying an additional 41,349 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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