Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 67.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,912 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 11,627 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 411.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $284.68 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $277.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.21. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.42 dividend. 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 2.00%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

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.