Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 133 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,949 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $671,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,139 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,483 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,138 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,779,000 after buying an additional 4,855 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $557,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 420,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,624,000 after purchasing an additional 43,425 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $269.60 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $258.69 and a 200 day moving average of $277.17.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.