Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $1.91 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lessened its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.7 %

GD stock opened at $241.98 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $66.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $261.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $284.19. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.