IFP Advisors Inc Has $1.81 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 153.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,147 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the third 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 last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $249.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.97 and a 200-day moving average of $281.88. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $67.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.