Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. bought a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 819 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GD. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $607,393,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,450,213 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,384,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $285.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $278.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.03. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

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.