Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 5,934 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 344.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,659 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,934 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $981,000. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 21,711 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in General Dynamics by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 351,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $92,598,000 after buying an additional 195,476 shares during the period. Finally, Family Legacy Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 9,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,375,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $273.93 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.90 and its 200-day moving average is $276.19. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $74.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics 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.