Northcape Wealth Management LLC Sells 111 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,517 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. General Dynamics comprises approximately 1.6% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after buying an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 17,061 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after buying an additional 275,947 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in General Dynamics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,258,362 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $499,030,000 after buying an additional 97,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the firm’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 owns 103,345 shares in the company, valued at $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were 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 owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $287.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,423,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,588. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $202.35 and a 52-week high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $281.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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, Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.06.

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.