General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $263.04 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.20.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for 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%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.38.

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.