Hilton Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hilton Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,231 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,746,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 19.6% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,258 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,895 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 56.4% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,355 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $260.87 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $70.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.18.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

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.