2,747 Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Purchased by Ames National Corp

Ames National Corp acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,747 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $281.38 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $270.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.66. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $75.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

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.