MCF Advisors LLC Purchases 1,058 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 96.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,158 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $271.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $271.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.09. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.88 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share 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 generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

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.