Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 108 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 108 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,558,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 13,990 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,351 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $271.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $74.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.88 and a one year high of $316.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $271.92 and a 200 day moving average of $288.09.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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.