Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Has $10.26 Million Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. grew its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,928 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $254.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.01 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.62. The stock has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics 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.