Eastern Bank Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target 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, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $275.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.79.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.