General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Moors & Cabot Inc.

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE GD opened at $260.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $257.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $279.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.