Fermata Advisors LLC Takes Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GD. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $266.86 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $273.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly 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). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.