Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Raises Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,651 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in General Dynamics by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $259.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $282.54. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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.