Virtu Financial LLC Purchases 1,088 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 59.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,929 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 990.0% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 66,557 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $17,537,000 after buying an additional 60,451 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $165,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 134.4% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,648 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,799 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.0 %

GD opened at $265.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.45.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

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.