General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by Royal Fund Management LLC

Royal Fund Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after purchasing an additional 915,091 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 55.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 806,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $178,304,000 after purchasing an additional 286,928 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,110,000 after purchasing an additional 198,185 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus upped their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $0.78 on Friday, hitting $288.14. 974,321 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,217,434. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $282.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50. The company has a market cap of $79.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.67.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.