Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 98,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,809,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $177,881,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.2 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.03. 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 has a market capitalization of $74.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.69.

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.