Raymond James & Associates Has $127.74 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,204 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 5,705 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.16% of General Dynamics worth $127,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 99.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,868,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 262.5% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,032,000 after acquiring an additional 16,821 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $287.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,423,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,588. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.87. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The company has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.72.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.06.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.