Hills Bank & Trust Co Lowers Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Hills Bank & Trust Co decreased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GD. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,987 shares of company stock valued at $18,836,700 in the last 90 days. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $300.53.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.3 %

GD stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $296.79. The company had a trading volume of 483,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,403. The stock has a market cap of $81.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.21, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average of $284.06 and a 200-day moving average of $264.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $297.79.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

General Dynamics Company 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.