Professional Advisory Services Inc. Has $20.61 Million Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,209 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 4,211 shares during the period. General Dynamics comprises 2.8% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $20,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after buying an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after purchasing an additional 357,861 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $266.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $273.71 and its 200-day moving average is $288.32. The company has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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

General Dynamics Company 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.