GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 566 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,227 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,857,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the third quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $255.41 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.01 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.