Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 5,561 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,173 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 5,561 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in General Dynamics were worth $27,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $274.84. The company had a trading volume of 315,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,314. The stock has a market cap of $73.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $269.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.32. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. General Dynamics's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GD. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.