General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) was downgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $305.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $315.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.63% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.47.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $275.70 on Wednesday. General Dynamics has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $261.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.30.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after acquiring an additional 33,962 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $773,355,000 after purchasing an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.