Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 18,861 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 244,015 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 18,861 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $64,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 17.6% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,694 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,779,000 after acquiring an additional 3,682 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 16.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 45,476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $13,743,000 after acquiring an additional 6,352 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GD. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $254.07 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $258.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.71. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. 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 company has a market cap of $68.69 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.