Professional Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 4,211 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 78,209 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,211 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics comprises about 2.8% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $20,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% in the third quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This 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 this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $273.71 and a 200-day moving average of $288.32. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

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.