Mechanics Bank Trust Department Acquires Shares of 749 General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 749 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $728,284,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3,645.4% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 558,586 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $145,048,000 after buying an additional 543,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,733,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE GD opened at $295.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.08, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $293.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.44. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $209.25 and a 52 week high of $302.75.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Argus boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.63.

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.