Ridgewood Investments LLC Buys 75 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD traded down $2.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $259.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 348,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,677. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $277.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $71.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

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

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

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.