Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Sells 445 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lessened its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 133,227 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,104,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 2,946 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haven Private LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $701,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE GD opened at $271.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $257.80 and a 200-day moving average of $279.78. The company has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.