Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,328 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $6,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third 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. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during 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 during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $271.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.63. 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 (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

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.