Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 4,295 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 4,295 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $259.68 and its 200-day moving average is $282.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors 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 2.34%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

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.