Vest Financial LLC Buys 17,548 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 206,554 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,548 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.08% of General Dynamics worth $56,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Breakwater Capital Group grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.7% in the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 6,782 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,849,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 5.6% during the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,238 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.1% during the first quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,002 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 26.5% during the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 12,296 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,351,000 after buying an additional 2,577 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 76.5% during the first quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $276.43. 647,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,381,355. The company has a market capitalization of $74.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.71. 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 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Argus set a $295.00 price target on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research cut General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.00.

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.