Maripau Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Maripau Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $252.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $258.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.09. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. 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 $68.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61.

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

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

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.