Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $388,000 Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after buying an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $246.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $260.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $66.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

About General Dynamics

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.