WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases 9,798 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 153.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,188 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,798 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Entropy Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 772.7% in the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,212 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,643,000 after purchasing an additional 22,323 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 9,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,723,000. Finally, Hendershot Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 38,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $254.84 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.01 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $264.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.56.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.