American National Bank & Trust Purchases 18,903 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 142.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,159 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,903 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $8,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $773,355,000 after acquiring an additional 145,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $274.21. The company had a trading volume of 299,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,881. The stock has a market cap of $73.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.00.

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.