Money Concepts Capital Corp Raises Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,503 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 34,648 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,219,000 after purchasing an additional 17,019 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $190,000. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 93.2% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 17,732 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,672,000 after acquiring an additional 8,554 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.06.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.4 %

GD stock opened at $257.64 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.01 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $70.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.28.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.