Kestra Investment Management LLC Takes Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 225 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 27,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 74,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $19,752,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp now owns 7,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $15,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 3,810 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GD. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $243.02 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $259.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.54. The stock has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.