Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,256 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,643 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,921 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after buying an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,679 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 11,565 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE GD opened at $262.19 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $257.89 and a 200-day moving average of $278.98. The firm has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

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.