Focus Partners Wealth Buys 68,561 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 324.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,686 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,561 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $24,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GD stock opened at $271.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $268.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $269.50. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.