Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Acquires 100 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,683 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.19.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $263.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.36 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $281.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.63.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

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.