AXQ Capital LP Buys 1,284 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

AXQ Capital LP boosted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of GD opened at $263.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.79.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.