General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Acquired by Orion Capital Management LLC

Orion Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 67.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 386 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 155 shares during the quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after purchasing an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 55.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 806,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $178,304,000 after purchasing an additional 286,928 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 12.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,110,000 after purchasing an additional 198,185 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GD. Susquehanna upped their price target 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 cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock remained flat at $287.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 484,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,112,499. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $281.59 and its 200-day moving average is $262.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 EPS. 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 will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. 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 Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics 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 value of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.