Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,154 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,501 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus set a $295.00 price target on General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna raised their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities raised their price target on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $293.00.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GD traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $274.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,717. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $272.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.82. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $73.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.