General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 511 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GD shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics 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 sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $272.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.21.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

About General Dynamics

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.