United Asset Strategies Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,218 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SVB Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. First American Trust FSB acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $3,926,000. LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $429,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 1,286 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.80.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.2 %

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

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

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.