Gabelli Funds LLC Raises Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,170 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 163 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the 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 directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $275.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.10.

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 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%. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 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.