General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Acquired by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 28,696 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $23,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GD. UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $294.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $276.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $74.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $260.77 and a 200-day moving average of $273.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

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.