Cooper Financial Group Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,259 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in General Dynamics by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,485,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $430,928,000 after purchasing an additional 95,349 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.7% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 23,568 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,685 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $264.92 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $275.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results 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 firm 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%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.53.

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.