Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Acquires 108 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,252 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GD. United Bank grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 19.6% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 7.6% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 18,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.6% in the third quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.4 %

GD opened at $262.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $257.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.