Meritage Portfolio Management Grows Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its stake in General Dynamics by 648.1% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 39,587 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,280,000 after purchasing an additional 34,295 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 1,722 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 26,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,857,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the period. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $284.41 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $280.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.71. The company has a market capitalization of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. 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 payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.63.

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.