Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,964 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $246.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $260.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $282.84. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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.