Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. General Dynamics accounts for 1.3% of Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $15,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $262.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $257.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % 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 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.