Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 411.5% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.69.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock traded up $0.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $282.43. 644,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,056,026. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $270.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.75. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $284.75. The company has a market cap of $77.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.59 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. Shareholders 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 represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.93%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Dynamics news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.