Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) had its price objective decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $360.00 to $335.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the aerospace company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 30.39% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $256.92 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics has a 1-year low of $247.01 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $264.07 and a 200 day moving average of $285.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. 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.