Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,431 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $393,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $3,892,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter worth about $20,667,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $276.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $260.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week 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.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.47.

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.