First American Bank Acquires 300 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

First American Bank lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. First American Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 3,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,042 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. BTIG Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:GD opened at $251.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $68.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.44.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

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.