Outfitter Financial LLC Grows Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Outfitter Financial LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 480 shares during the quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 6,651 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,009,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 3,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $246.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50-day moving average is $260.08 and its 200 day moving average is $282.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

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 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.