Xponance Inc. Grows Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,274 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,585 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $8,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,393,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in General Dynamics by 484.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,749,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $399,306,000 after buying an additional 1,450,213 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 91,832.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,386,337 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $343,964,000 after buying an additional 1,384,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.80.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $2.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $287.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 72,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,055,556. The firm has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $278.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.03.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter 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. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

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.