295 Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Purchased by Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 295 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % 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 Stock Up 0.8 %

GD opened at $269.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.22.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.