Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Buys Shares of 4,050 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,050 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,104,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GD. Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 213.8% in the first quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 91 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.00.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $3.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $282.95. 1,649,124 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,735. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $274.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.46. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.