Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,944 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.62% of General Dynamics worth $449,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc grew its stake in General Dynamics by 195.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 118 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Up 1.4 %

GD opened at $249.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $258.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $281.88. 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 stock has a market cap of $67.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

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.