Ascent Group LLC Has $944,000 Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) by 53.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,779 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,313 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 4,913 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,411,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $312,273,000 after buying an additional 337,999 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 55,896 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,859,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 103,739 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,959,000 after purchasing an additional 7,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 81.3% during the 3rd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 4,370 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. 84.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $219.83 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $207.42 and a twelve month high of $256.86. The company has a market cap of $60.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.17.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The aerospace company reported $3.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.05. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 8.60%. The business had revenue of $10.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Cowen boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $260.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $243.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $298.00 to $283.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 27,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.93, for a total value of $6,263,268.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 56,909 shares in the company, valued at $12,914,359.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Profile

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General Dynamics Corp. is a global aerospace and defense company, which engages in design, engineering, and manufacturing to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures, and sells business jets.