Davis R M Inc. Purchases 280 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Davis R M Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,643 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE GD opened at $264.25 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $257.99 and a 200 day moving average of $279.44. The company has a market capitalization of $71.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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%. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. Barclays cut their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

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.