General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Director Sells $459,201.28 in Stock

General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GD traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $257.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,355,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,740,298. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.01 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $266.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $286.50. The firm has a market cap of $70.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GD. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research cut shares of 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third 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 period. State Street Corp raised its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in General Dynamics by 117.0% during 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 raised 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 valued at $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.