Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Barclays cut their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna cut their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.8 %

GD opened at $269.60 on Thursday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $258.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.22. 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 has a market cap of $72.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.