Traders Purchase High Volume of General Dynamics Call Options (NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 3,476 call options on the company. This is an increase of 36% compared to the average volume of 2,559 call options.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 411.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 133 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 19,668 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 5,960 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,854 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,956,000 after buying an additional 4,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD traded down $11.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $281.15. 4,023,365 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,578. The stock has a market cap of $77.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $280.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.22. General Dynamics has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.25%.

About General Dynamics

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.