General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Rating Increased to Outperform at Wolfe Research

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wolfe Research from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $360.00 price target on the aerospace company's stock. Wolfe Research's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.68% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $314.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $348.00 price target (up previously from $330.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $312.17.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $313.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,218,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,632. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $287.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $322.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. General Dynamics's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total transaction of $2,142,281.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,828,587.08. This represents a 0.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rialto Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 213.8% in the first quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth $26,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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.