Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Acquires 2,303 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,766 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics comprises about 0.8% of Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $887,649,000 after buying an additional 17,061 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,258,362 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $499,030,000 after purchasing an additional 97,789 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $1.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $292.70. 1,132,059 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,066,708. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.57. 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 has a market cap of $80.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.