St. Clair Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,750 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

St. Clair Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,750 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $280.54 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $269.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $268.65. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.00.

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.