Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 659,846 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 32,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $173,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $260.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $257.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $70.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

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.