Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Cuts Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,743 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GD. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $265.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50 day moving average is $258.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.54.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.