Apexium Financial LP Buys 55 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Apexium Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,200 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Apexium Financial LP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.22 on Monday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $257.26 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $269.27 and its 200 day moving average is $287.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.