Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 2,840 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 94.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,856 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,840 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $269.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $269.27 and a 200 day moving average of $287.74. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $257.26 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $74.14 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.88.

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.