Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Buys New Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 628 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $165,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GD. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $263.30 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.