Simmons Bank Sells 212 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Simmons Bank reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,465 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GD. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 67.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $248.92 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 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $258.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 1.69 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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.