Guidance Capital Inc. Acquires 246 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Guidance Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 87.6% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,690 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth $493,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,736 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,734,000 after purchasing an additional 3,531 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 291.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 96,539 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $27,271,000 after purchasing an additional 71,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,022,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

GD stock traded down $3.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $302.77. The company had a trading volume of 441,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,675. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $232.29 and a 52 week high of $313.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $299.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.48. The stock has a market cap of $83.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $314.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.18.

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.