Summit Financial LLC Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,716 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,506,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 234.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 154 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,620,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 58,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $15,490,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holowesko Partners Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 37.7% during the 4th quarter. Holowesko Partners Ltd. now owns 59,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $15,788,000 after purchasing an additional 16,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

GD stock opened at $273.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.19. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $74.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 2.19%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.