General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,038 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $15,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 239.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 5,698 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.9% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 25,204 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $7,313,000 after buying an additional 2,471 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,425 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of GD traded down $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $259.09. 304,484 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,273,669. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $277.21 and its 200-day moving average is $289.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $71.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GD. Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.