Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Sells 87 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,572 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of GD stock traded down $5.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $257.89. 1,866,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,394,660. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $280.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.31. The firm has a market cap of $70.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $311.29.

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.