Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 322 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.2 %

GD stock opened at $268.99 on Friday. 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $276.76. The company has a market capitalization of $72.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics 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.