Forza Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Forza Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,594 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Royal Bank of Canada cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $4.12 on Monday, reaching $263.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 638,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,529. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $276.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.99. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $72.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS 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 business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

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.