Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 1,689 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,521 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $6,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.2% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 17,786 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,848,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 68,591 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $18,697,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 1,160 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,577 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. TD Securities raised their target price on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $325.00 price target on General Dynamics and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $294.47.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares of the company's stock, valued at $217,898,829.91. This trade represents a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $302.20. 952,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,400,899. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average is $281.48 and its 200-day moving average is $269.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.