Guidance Capital Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Guidance Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Guidance Capital Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GD. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $587,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $314.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.18.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.1 %

GD stock traded down $3.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $302.77. 441,898 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,087,675. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $299.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $232.29 and a 52-week high of $313.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.38 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.