Red Cedar Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Red Cedar Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 60.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,076 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $308,000. First National Trust Co lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 6,169 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,456 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,475 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $0.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $288.14. 974,321 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,217,434. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

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.