Essex Savings Bank Sells 73 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Essex Savings Bank cut its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 4,626 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 9,719 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,561,000 after buying an additional 3,701 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,372 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,733,000 after buying an additional 1,853 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GD shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.53.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $265.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $73.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $275.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $288.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.