HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 6,066 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 244,639 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,066 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of General Dynamics worth $64,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after acquiring an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $260.87. 1,044,469 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,236,051. 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 $70.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $257.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.18.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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, Susquehanna reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.