Eastern Bank Buys 128 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,607 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $275.94 and a 200 day moving average of $288.79. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

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.