Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value 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. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GD. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $269.60 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

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.