St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Acquires 528 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,312 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GD. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $294.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $209.25 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $303.24.

General Dynamics 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.