Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 10,909 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,811 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,909 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $27,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the third quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in General Dynamics by 10.6% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.4% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $263.04 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $292.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.98. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year 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 has a market cap of $72.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.