TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Purchases New Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $607,393,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 484.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,749,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $399,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,213 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 91,832.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,386,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $343,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384,829 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after purchasing an additional 915,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $284.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $78.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $278.37 and its 200 day moving average is $258.85. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics 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.