Equitable Trust Co. Has $3.64 Million Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,015 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $300.06.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of GD opened at $254.84 on Monday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.01 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $264.47 and its 200-day moving average is $285.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.