Fortem Financial Group LLC Trims Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Fortem Financial Group LLC reduced its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,375 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $311.29.

General Dynamics Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of GD stock traded down $5.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $258.13. 1,014,165 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,329,253. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $280.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.31. 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 (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

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.