ICW Investment Advisors LLC Buys 43 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,491 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 35.8% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 32,674 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,874,000 after buying an additional 8,612 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,228,000. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $467,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1,123.5% during the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 13,617 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,115,000 after buying an additional 12,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $263.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $258.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.67.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

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.