Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Has $347,000 Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,316 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew 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 valued at $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings 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 worth $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE GD opened at $256.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.01 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $264.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.