Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 1,596 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,326 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.86 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.17.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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.