Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 107,095 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 69.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.10% of General Dynamics worth $69,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GD. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.18.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $259.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $71.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $247.36 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $276.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.08.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.26%.

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.