Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.6% 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 965 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 57 shares during the period. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its position in General Dynamics by 191.7% in the fourth quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 2,943 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 1,934 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 443,233 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $116,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 2,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 15,316 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $263.30 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $258.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.79. The stock has a market cap of $71.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

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

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company 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.