CWS Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,938 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,435 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in General Dynamics by 153.0% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 4,147 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in General Dynamics by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 68,910 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $18,157,000 after buying an additional 6,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.3 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $246.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $66.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $259.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

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.