Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 174 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,165 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 13,990 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,351 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mechanics Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $268.62 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $271.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.01. The firm has a market cap of $73.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.88 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

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.