Uniting Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 1,496 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 131,268 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,580,000 after buying an additional 59,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $276.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $259.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.