Moors & Cabot Inc. Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Moors & Cabot Inc. decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,937 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 34,560 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $9,106,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,987 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Cushing Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $654,000. Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 21,300 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,612,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 25,394 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $260.21 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $257.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.30. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $70.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GD. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

About General Dynamics

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.