Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Acquires 130 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,620 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 67.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE GD opened at $249.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $258.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.88. 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 quarterly earnings data 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, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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.