Park Place Capital Corp Grows Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,684 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 558 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $267.52 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.88 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $73.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average is $271.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized 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. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GD. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.