Archford Capital Strategies LLC Buys 173 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,599 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $266.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $257.26 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $287.64.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.