Copley Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Copley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 10,664.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,830 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 5.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,491 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,178 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus set a $295.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on 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 other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $3.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $278.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,657,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,585,047. The company has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $272.02 and its 200-day moving average is $267.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

General Dynamics Company 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.