First Horizon Advisors Inc. Acquires 46 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,701 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% in 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. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.2% in the third quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $243.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $259.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

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.