Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,708 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,432 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 411.5% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.80.

General Dynamics Trading Down 4.3 %

General Dynamics stock traded down $12.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $280.06. 2,822,190 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,086,938. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.08. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $202.35 and a fifty-two week high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.