Kentucky Trust Co Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,305 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.2 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $256.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.01 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $264.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $285.32. The firm has a market cap of $70.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.