Diversified Trust Co Has $585,000 Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,221 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Capital Market Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in General Dynamics by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,928,000 after purchasing an additional 44,387 shares in the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.5% in the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 19,875 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,006,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 56,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $17,039,000 after buying an additional 6,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

GD stock opened at $259.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.08. The company has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a 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 of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.