Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 761 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 385.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

GD stock traded up $3.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $263.02. The stock had a trading volume of 358,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,860. The firm has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $276.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.99.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GD shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

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.