General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $887,649,000 after acquiring an additional 17,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after acquiring an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,258,362 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $499,030,000 after purchasing an additional 97,789 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus upped their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.06.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $0.78 on Friday, reaching $288.14. The company had a trading volume of 974,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,217,434. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $282.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.37. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $202.35 and a twelve month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

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.