Creekmur Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Creekmur Asset Management LLC reduced its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 70.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,192 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,191 shares during the quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $273.93 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $258.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.19. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $74.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, 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 current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.