Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GD opened at $266.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $257.26 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results 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). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Barclays dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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.