Certified Advisory Corp Acquires 760 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Certified Advisory Corp increased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 393.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 953 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $297.37. The stock had a trading volume of 61,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,076,075. The stock has a market cap of $81.59 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $288.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.64. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $301.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.53.

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.