Pflug Koory LLC Increases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Pflug Koory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the quarter. Pflug Koory LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 20,770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,228 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,777 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,840,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Services acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.22 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $257.26 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.74.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

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

About General Dynamics

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.