MML Investors Services LLC Increases Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,216 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 9,234 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $19,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 163 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale 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 General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $272.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.50. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $73.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. 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%.

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.