First Foundation Advisors Has $389,000 Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

First Foundation Advisors increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 28.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,376 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after buying an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,372,311 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,348,000 after buying an additional 40,689 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,371,123 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $356,040,000 after buying an additional 45,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $5.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $288.22. 973,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,130. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.12. The company has a market cap of $79.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $213.47 and a one year high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.54 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642 over the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.94.

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.