Potentia Wealth Acquires Shares of 1,608 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Potentia Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,608 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.0 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $265.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $71.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

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.