Hoey Investments Inc. Invests $28,000 in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 105 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 234.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 154 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 58,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,490,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Holowesko Partners Ltd. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Holowesko Partners Ltd. now owns 59,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,788,000 after buying an additional 16,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its stake in General Dynamics by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. United Bank now owns 6,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $272.71 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $73.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.84 and its 200-day moving average is $276.41.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About General Dynamics

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.