Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Sells 869 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,962 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 869 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $266.86 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $272.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.19. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. 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 Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% 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.