General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Bought by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,146 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $275.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $72.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.