Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 974 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after acquiring an additional 24,395 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.56.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded down $3.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $284.80. 412,429 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,104. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $294.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $211.94 and a 1-year high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

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.