Mission Wealth Management LP Grows Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 495.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,902 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GD. Argus increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $287.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $262.72.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly 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 during 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 was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.