Diversified Trust Co Purchases 58 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,221 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $259.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Company 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.