Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,470 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,055 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $16,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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, Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.12.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $272.10 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.17.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

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.