Hickory Asset Management Inc. Invests $252,000 in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 956 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GD. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,808 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $582,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.0% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 7,101 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD stock opened at $241.98 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $262.55 and its 200-day moving average is $284.58.

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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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.