Level Four Advisory Services LLC Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,153 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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 on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $268.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $72.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $276.76.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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 research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

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.