Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 10,863 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 127,279 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,863 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $33,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GD. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.8 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $269.60 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $258.67 and a 200 day moving average of $277.22.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value 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. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.