AGP Franklin LLC Purchases Shares of 4,786 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,786 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,261,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $1,165,000. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $940,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 90,747 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $23,911,000 after purchasing an additional 28,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its position in General Dynamics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 4,361 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $294.47.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $275.70. 1,721,990 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,361,597. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $261.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.88. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics 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.