Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 1,948 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,735 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,948 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE GD opened at $271.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $74.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.88 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $271.92 and its 200 day moving average is $288.09.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.