5,940 Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Acquired by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,940 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.4 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $298.00 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $209.25 and a 1-year high of $302.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $81.76 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $292.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $275.62.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Susquehanna upped their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.63.

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.