Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 72 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,701 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 62,313 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $16,419,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 25,336 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,676,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $287,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $246.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $282.18.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on 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 cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.