Sky Investment Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sky Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,990 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.21. 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 capitalization of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

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.