Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 228 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $256.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.44 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.01 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $264.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share 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 often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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.