General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Acquired by Spire Wealth Management

Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,224 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kerntke Otto McGlone Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. TCG Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $276,000. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC now owns 8,076 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $308,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were 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 owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,589,184. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,987 shares of company stock valued at $18,836,700. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $293.37 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.