Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 2,695 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 47.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,995 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,695 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 2,444 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. Momentous Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,314 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Potentia Wealth bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $424,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents 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 insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $268.99 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $276.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.