Providence First Trust Co Has $459,000 Stake in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Providence First Trust Co lessened its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 68.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,364 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,962 shares during the period. Providence First Trust Co's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 620.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 72 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 650.0% in the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 75 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,936 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,767,997.44. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 10,153 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.95, for a total value of $3,603,807.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,834,176.25. This represents a 20.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,260 shares of company stock valued at $18,133,971. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.5%

General Dynamics stock opened at $347.54 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $267.39 and a 1-year high of $369.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.34. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $345.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $389.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.70.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.

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