Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,372 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,853 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners raised its stake in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $266.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,543,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,689. The stock has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $272.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value 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. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. 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, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.53.

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.