Waverly Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,606 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $728,284,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after acquiring an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $179,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $145,048,000 after acquiring an additional 543,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 879.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 340,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $96,148,000 after acquiring an additional 305,624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $3.19 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $292.68. 430,253 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,069,036. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $214.53 and a 12-month high of $302.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.88. The company has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.60.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $271.00 to $293.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,589,184. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,069 shares of company stock valued at $16,295,101 in the last three months. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.