Cetera Trust Company N.A Acquires New Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 184 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,595,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,820 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,031,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 867 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $291.31 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $279.51 and a 200-day moving average of $260.57. The firm has a market cap of $79.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 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 paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics 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 owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group increased their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Alembic Global Advisors cut General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.80.

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.