Trexquant Investment LP Takes Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 75,038 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,772,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 344.0% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 7,659 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 5,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $981,000. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 21,711 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 351,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $92,598,000 after purchasing an additional 195,476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $272.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.84 and a 200 day moving average of $276.41. The stock has a market cap of $73.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

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