Dudley Capital Management LLC Sells 50 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dudley Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,789 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s 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 $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $265.94 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $258.54 and its 200 day moving average is $277.45. The firm has a market cap of $71.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results 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%. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

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.