Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $59,000 in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 225 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 27,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,123,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 74,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $19,752,000 after buying an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 7,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $15,348,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 3,810 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $259.68 and its 200-day moving average is $282.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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.