Citizens & Northern Corp Buys 293 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Citizens & Northern Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 75.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,988 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $46,233,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Arlington Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 14,173 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 22,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,757,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $241.98 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $284.09. The company has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

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.