Whittier Trust Co. Sells 132 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,856 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,799 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 120,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,852,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,708,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 30,865 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,133,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $263.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, 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 has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $258.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.91.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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 anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.