Aspiriant LLC Sells 54 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Aspiriant LLC lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,132 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 82 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $272.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.21. 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 released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.