Wintrust Investments LLC Raises Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wintrust Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 117.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 56.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,355 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $260.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $257.92 and a 200-day moving average of $279.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 2.30%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value 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 trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, 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 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on 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 cut their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

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.