General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 61.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,356 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,327 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GD. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Vertical Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $311.29.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $3.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $261.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 477,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,350,715. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.