12,881 Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Purchased by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,881 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,892,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 120.0% during the second quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.38.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.1 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $263.18 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $291.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.73. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.