Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $58.08 Million Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,412 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.08% of General Dynamics worth $58,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $69,032,000 after purchasing an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $268.07 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $251.62 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $270.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.71 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.