Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of GD opened at $266.22 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.74. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $257.26 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GD. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Company 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.