Short Interest in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Increases By 14.5%

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, a growth of 14.5% from the October 15th total of 2,690,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. Barclays lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $177,881,000 after buying an additional 5,069 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $771,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $287.99 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $243.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.34. The stock has a market cap of $79.19 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics will post 13.98 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Company Profile

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.