General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Holdings Raised by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,982 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 385.2% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $265.19. The company had a trading volume of 774,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,391,586. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $275.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.79. The stock has a market cap of $72.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

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.