Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of General Dynamics Call Options (NYSE:GD)

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 3,476 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 36% compared to the average daily volume of 2,559 call options.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $281.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $280.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $261.22. General Dynamics has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics will post 14.56 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 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Dynamics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after acquiring an additional 147,800 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $728,284,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $506,744,000 after acquiring an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Dynamics

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.