Avior Wealth Management LLC Has $526,000 Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 45.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,027 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after buying an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,711,000 after purchasing an additional 259,855 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $887,649,000 after purchasing an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,622,031 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $650,552,000 after purchasing an additional 282,436 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:GD opened at $285.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. The company has a market cap of $78.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $278.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.03.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is an increase 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.80.

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.