Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Trims Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,455 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $303.24.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $2.03 on Thursday, hitting $292.50. The stock had a trading volume of 773,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,044,919. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $209.25 and a 52-week high of $302.75. The stock has a market cap of $80.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $277.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642. 1.52% of the stock is 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.