Cypress Advisory Group LLC Invests $857,000 in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cypress Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,253 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $857,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $550,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $272.10 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.59. The stock has a market cap of $73.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics 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 owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.