Foster & Motley Inc. Decreases Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,806 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,445 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,692,000 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 grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the period. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 32.6% during the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GD traded up $4.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $255.80. The stock had a trading volume of 813,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $268.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.23. 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 $70.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $301.24.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics 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 directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

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.