HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,639 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 6,066 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $64,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GD. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $692,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.5 %

GD opened at $260.21 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $70.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $257.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.30. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.