Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Trims Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,186 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $387,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,709 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 13,990 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,686,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Purus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $271.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $271.92 and its 200 day moving average is $288.09. The company has a market cap of $74.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.88 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.88.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% 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.