Americana Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 92.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 827 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 9,718 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $242.46 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $66.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.72. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.