First Business Financial Services Inc. Purchases 3,330 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

First Business Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,574 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This 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 available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $257.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.27. The company has a market cap of $71.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.64%.

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.