Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 166,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,345 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.06% of General Dynamics worth $43,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $262.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $257.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.98.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.