Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 1,260 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,806 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GD. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after purchasing an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after buying an additional 44,387 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $264.92 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $275.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $72.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.