MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Decreases Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,116 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,413 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,351 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 781 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,364,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7 %

GD stock opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $272.86 and a 200 day moving average of $288.21. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

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.