Bath Savings Trust Co Sells 583 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Bath Savings Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 583 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after acquiring an additional 44,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GD. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Vertical Research downgraded 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 report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $311.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of GD stock traded up $2.56 on Tuesday, hitting $260.55. The stock had a trading volume of 553,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,367,662. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $279.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.01. The company has a market cap of $71.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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

General Dynamics Company 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.