First Financial Corp IN Has $302,000 Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,146 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 17,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,502,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,037,000. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Persium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $500,000. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced 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, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents 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 corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $275.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.79. 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 (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.