Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Acquires 40 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GD. Vertical Research cut 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 research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3 %

GD opened at $265.89 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program 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 programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.