Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. Purchases 183 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,211 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 239.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,698 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.1% during the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.0% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 25,204 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE GD traded down $2.09 on Friday, reaching $259.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,702,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,746. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $277.21 and its 200 day moving average is $289.35. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna cut their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics 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.