Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 189,514 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $49,935,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of General Dynamics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GD. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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General Dynamics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $1.47 on Monday, reaching $254.07. 1,332,788 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,719,734. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $258.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, William Blair cut General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

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.