CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Purchases 250 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,916 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $275.94 and a 200-day moving average of $288.79. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About General Dynamics

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.