Brighton Jones LLC Acquires 417 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,885 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.88.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $266.22 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.64. 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 1 year low of $257.26 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business 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 posted $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.