Persium Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Persium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,899 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% in 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 buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GD. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD traded up $4.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $263.73. 953,813 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,409,898. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.99. The firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.