General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GD. DA Davidson lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $384.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised General Dynamics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on General Dynamics from $435.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.58.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $382.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $361.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $353.01. General Dynamics has a 52 week low of $306.77 and a 52 week high of $400.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.28. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $14.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. General Dynamics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.800-16.900 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark Malcolm sold 5,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,000,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,884,695. This represents a 33.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,190 shares of company stock worth $27,041,022. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1,725.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 73 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 88 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 220.7% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 93 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.