Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) Stock Price

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $261.00 to $236.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the aerospace company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential downside of 14.70% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.82.

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General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $4.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.66. The stock had a trading volume of 1,568,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,349,389. General Dynamics has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $259.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.77. The firm has a market cap of $74.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 34,578.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $339,253,000 after buying an additional 1,241,011 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. 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.