Hantz Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,031 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 706 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.71.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $251.52 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.01 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $69.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $268.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders 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 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.