Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 668 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 231,277 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 668 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $60,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 8.9% during the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 8,351 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,423,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $601,756,000 after purchasing an additional 47,915 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.1% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,924 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,589,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the second quarter worth $4,911,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,477,993 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $428,825,000 after acquiring an additional 88,489 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics 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 owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $266.22 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $257.26 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $73.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.74.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.