Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 363 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during 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 worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after buying an additional 24,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GD. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $242.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $261.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.64%.

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.