Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Purchases 81,977 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 209.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 121,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 81,977 shares during the period. General Dynamics comprises about 0.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $40,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,101,000. Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 1,097 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,598 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,242,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares during the period. Finally, WealthPoint Financial LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson cut their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $388.40.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $350.39 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $275.49 and a 12-month high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.