PDS Planning Inc Invests $216,000 in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

PDS Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 99.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after buying an additional 14,468 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.1% in the third quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth approximately $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $292.70 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $80.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $280.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.08.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

About General Dynamics

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.