Apollon Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,656 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 735 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $254.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.01 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $264.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics 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.