PFG Advisors Purchases 97 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

PFG Advisors grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,565 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after buying an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’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 value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5 %

GD stock opened at $260.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $257.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.30. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.