Stokes Family Office LLC Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Stokes Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of GD opened at $267.51 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

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.