United Capital Management of KS Inc. Has $5.28 Million Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

United Capital Management of KS Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,026 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $262.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.98. 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 (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

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.