National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 195,476 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 125.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 351,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 195,476 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.13% of General Dynamics worth $92,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $94,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4,129.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 43,015 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $13,001,000 after purchasing an additional 41,998 shares in the last quarter. ClearAlpha Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $299,000. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 139,657 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $42,204,000 after buying an additional 14,149 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $273.93 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $258.90 and its 200 day moving average is $276.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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 the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

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.