Certuity LLC Purchases Shares of 4,045 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Certuity LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $887,649,000 after acquiring an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,258,362 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $499,030,000 after purchasing an additional 97,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.06.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $288.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 648,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,885. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $281.23 and a 200 day moving average of $262.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The company has a market capitalization of $79.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.