Fermata Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,481 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Fermata Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in General Dynamics by 17.4% in the second quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,206 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the second quarter valued at $447,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in General Dynamics during the second quarter valued at about $1,370,000. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 17.0% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 26,287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,627,000 after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 41,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,068,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $266.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $273.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.