Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 4,981 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 515,973 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,981 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.19% of General Dynamics worth $135,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. Susquehanna lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $1.35 on Wednesday, hitting $243.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,900,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,734,416. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $260.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $283.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $65.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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.