Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 490 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,784 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 490 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $14,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 8,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in General Dynamics by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 3,809 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SWS Partners lifted its position in General Dynamics by 39,352.6% during the 3rd quarter. SWS Partners now owns 7,496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,265,000 after buying an additional 7,477 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $256.92 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.01 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $264.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 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.