General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Edge Wealth Management LLC

Edge Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the period. General Dynamics comprises approximately 2.7% of Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Edge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $13,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 9.4% during 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 buying an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2,189.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $268.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $288.45.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.