General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of General Dynamics worth $6,265,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $263.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.50 and a 200-day moving average of $277.67. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GD. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

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.