Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,540 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 84,306 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $28,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 620.0% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 650.0% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.6%

GD opened at $343.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.10 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The company has a market capitalization of $92.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.60.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 40.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $371.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.40.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.