General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Director Sells $740,160.00 in Stock

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,589,184. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $293.37. 709,808 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,109,033. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $283.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $80.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The business 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 revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna increased their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $300.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $728,284,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $506,744,000 after acquiring an additional 275,947 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.