Dearborn Partners LLC Buys 294 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dearborn Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $15,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $741,000. United Bank lifted its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 57,108 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $17,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,861 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,430 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $271.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $257.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.63.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.