NovaPoint Capital LLC Has $3.64 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

NovaPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,832 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. NovaPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $258.36 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.01 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61.

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%. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently 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.