BTC Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

BTC Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 39.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 24,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.24.

General Dynamics Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GD opened at $256.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.61. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $267.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.02. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.01 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.08%. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 15.92 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

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.