Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 172,361 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 37,532 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of General Dynamics worth $46,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GD. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 34,578.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $339,253,000 after buying an additional 1,241,011 shares during the last quarter. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $217,898,829.91. The trade was a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $278.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.46. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $275.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.58.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. Analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.00.

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.