Claro Advisors LLC Cuts Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Claro Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,769 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,533,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $89,928,000 after buying an additional 44,387 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $263.73 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $275.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $288.79. The firm has a market cap of $72.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 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 (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 return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GD shares. TD Cowen raised shares of General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics 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.