Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 188.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 26,668 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,812,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,377 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,695,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $288.14. 973,927 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,116,386. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $263.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.