General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Stake Boosted by Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC

Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 144,664 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $38,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after buying an additional 24,464 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on 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, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $268.62 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $73.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $271.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $288.01. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.88 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a share 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

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.