Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,087 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GD. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’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 owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $242.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $66.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $260.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.37. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.