General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Position Reduced by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,015 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 18,861 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.09% of General Dynamics worth $64,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $215,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 17.6% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,694 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $11,779,000 after buying an additional 3,682 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 45,476 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $13,743,000 after purchasing an additional 6,352 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $3.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $250.68. 2,013,286 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,727,237. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $257.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $67.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

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

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.