General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Sees Strong Trading Volume

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 644,526 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 1,060,100 shares.The stock last traded at $278.38 and had previously closed at $292.72.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. StockNews.com raised shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.63.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $280.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.39.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. 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 that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the first quarter worth $25,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. 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.