GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,428,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $639,923,000 after buying an additional 232,383 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $449,580,000 after acquiring an additional 59,944 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $294.47.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GD opened at $275.70 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $261.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.