Willner & Heller LLC Has $531,000 Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Willner & Heller LLC raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in General Dynamics by 22.8% in the third quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GD. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $266.86 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $272.86 and its 200 day moving average is $288.19. 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 one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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.