General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by Founders Capital Management

Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of several research reports. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded up $4.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $263.58. 395,223 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,349,877. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $276.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.