Park Place Capital Corp Purchases 558 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 26.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,684 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 558 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $267.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $73.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.88 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $271.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $288.01.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.73 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was 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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

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.