Kelleher Financial Advisors Purchases 44 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kelleher Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,590 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $268.62 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.88 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $271.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.01.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.