Caitlin John LLC Sells 228 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Caitlin John LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.6% in the third quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.06.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $258.36 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.01 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $266.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.