Czech National Bank Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,982 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

GD stock opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $275.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.79. The stock has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.18.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’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 owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.