Ridgewood Investments LLC Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock traded down $2.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $259.21. The stock had a trading volume of 348,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,677. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $277.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.35. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

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.