Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.26 Million in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 4,459 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,259,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 46.8% during the first quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $1.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $292.40. The stock had a trading volume of 990,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,075,313. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $214.53 and a 52 week high of $302.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 12,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.59, for a total transaction of $3,585,476.51. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 64,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,020,909.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,499 shares of company stock valued at $15,554,941 over the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.