Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. Purchases 321 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,419 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GD. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GD opened at $252.87 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $68.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.00.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

About General Dynamics

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.