Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,234 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank raised its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,039,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,014 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.7% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 441,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $133,435,000 after acquiring an additional 19,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 35.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 32,674 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,874,000 after purchasing an additional 8,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several research reports. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup cut their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, William Blair cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE GD opened at $263.30 on Friday. 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 has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $258.50 and its 200-day moving average is $277.79. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

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.