Ritholtz Wealth Management Boosts Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after buying an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,932,541 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,136,986,000 after acquiring an additional 39,597 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,711,000 after buying an additional 259,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $887,649,000 after acquiring an additional 17,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. UBS Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.69.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GD traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $282.43. 644,487 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,056,026. The company has a market cap of $77.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $251.75. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $284.75. 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 (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.59 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.