Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Buys 8,228 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 65.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 8,228 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $266.22 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $257.26 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $269.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.74.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.