Kelleher Financial Advisors Increases Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kelleher Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,590 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% in 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 buying an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after buying an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $268.62 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $271.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.01. The company has a market capitalization of $73.86 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.88 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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 issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GD. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.88.

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.