Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,636 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,428,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $639,923,000 after purchasing an additional 232,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in General Dynamics by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 351,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $92,598,000 after purchasing an additional 195,476 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $278.84 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $259.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.43. The stock has a market cap of $74.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.