Vaughan David Investments LLC IL Has $9.06 Million Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL decreased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,375 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $546,000. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 6,627 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,580,000 after purchasing an additional 59,944 shares during the period. Hendley & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Hendley & Co. Inc. now owns 14,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 4,755 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GD. Barclays dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $246.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $259.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.