Machina Capital S.A.S. Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Machina Capital S.A.S. reduced its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 71.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,133 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,816 shares during the quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $741,000. United Bank raised its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,554,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 57,108 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $17,258,000 after buying an additional 6,861 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of GD opened at $271.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.78. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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.