Founders Capital Management Acquires 85 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Founders Capital Management lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.6 %

GD traded up $4.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $263.58. 395,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,349,877. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $276.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.