Avity Investment Management Inc. Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Avity Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 800 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Markel Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 390,500 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $94,181,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.2% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,202 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,014,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 294.2% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 791.6% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,275 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 51.6% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,237,000 after buying an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. 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. 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 raised their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.69.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $2.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $282.64. 1,043,435 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,517. The company has a market capitalization of $77.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $282.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $266.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its 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). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.6 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 issued a $1.42 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 2.01%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.93%.

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.