Thomasville National Bank Raises Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,386 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,242 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics accounts for about 1.4% of Thomasville National Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Thomasville National Bank's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $19,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 67.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $89,928,000 after purchasing an additional 44,387 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $4.35 on Monday, reaching $263.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,359,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,481,823. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $276.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company's revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down 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, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

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.