HM Payson & Co. Buys 744 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 133,227 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $35,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $271.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $257.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.99. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.