Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Makes New $536,000 Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,063 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 411.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. Barclays boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $285.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $296.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $278.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

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.