BFI Infinity Ltd. Purchases New Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

BFI Infinity Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 967 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,685 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the second quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,804,000 after buying an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its stake in General Dynamics by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,206 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 15,789 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GD. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.1 %

GD stock traded up $2.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $268.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,752,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,430,427. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $73.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $274.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.45.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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.