Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Lowers Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL lowered its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,474 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Finally, Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $692,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $271.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $257.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $279.88. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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, sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.