Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Buys 65 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,115 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after buying an additional 1,376,065 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $251.26 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.01 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $284.85. The company has a market cap of $69.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released 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%. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.