Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 2,279 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 590,898 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,279 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of General Dynamics worth $155,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $254.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.87. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.01 and a 12-month high of $316.90. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.06.

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.