Independence Bank of Kentucky Decreases Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Independence Bank of Kentucky cut its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,262 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after buying an additional 133,061 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on GD. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $305.00 to $335.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total value of $3,978,647.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,255 shares in the company, valued at $23,630,670.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Dynamics news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kimberly A. Kuryea sold 13,344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.16, for a total transaction of $3,978,647.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,630,670.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642 in the last ninety days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $2.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $290.14. 2,259,932 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 860,268. The company has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $294.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.73. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $210.65 and a 52-week high of $302.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

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.