U S Global Investors Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

U S Global Investors Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 12,453 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics comprises about 2.1% of U S Global Investors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. U S Global Investors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $20,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. First American Bank raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. First American Bank now owns 4,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 16,350 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,308,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 8,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,182,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 11,538 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,040,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 13,281 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Barclays lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective 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 reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $251.53 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.44. The company has a market cap of $68.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 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.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.