Teza Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,314 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $3,772,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 163 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,491 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.4%

General Dynamics stock traded down $3.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $277.72. The stock had a trading volume of 997,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,819. 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 $74.54 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $270.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.66.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.