Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $454,000 Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 33.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3 %

GD traded up $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $288.14. 973,927 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,116,386. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $282.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.05.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’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 value of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on GD shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Company 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.