General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Cullen Investment Group LTD.

Cullen Investment Group LTD. cut its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,235 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,968 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.9% during the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 1.8% during the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,216,599,000 after buying an additional 293,316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $275.94 and its 200 day moving average is $288.79.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 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 firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned 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 a consensus price target of $308.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.