2,627 Shares in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Acquired by Hickory Point Bank & Trust

Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,627 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GD. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $252.87 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $68.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.09. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics 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 transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.