Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 6,760 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 285,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,760 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.10% of General Dynamics worth $86,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 2.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,079 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.4% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,441 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 6.0% during the second quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 914 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1,367.8% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2 %

GD opened at $271.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $296.00 and a 200-day moving average of $295.03. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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 firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders 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 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.