Hills Bank & Trust Co Raises Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,049 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank increased its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 19.6% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 18,488 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,587,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $262.19 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $257.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.98. The company has a market capitalization of $70.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

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