LVW Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

LVW Advisors LLC lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,244 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,216,599,000 after purchasing an additional 293,316 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 115,063 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $601,756,000 after purchasing an additional 47,915 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $474,927,000 after purchasing an additional 23,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,606,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $466,049,000 after purchasing an additional 23,304 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Morgan Stanley raised General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $334.00 to $317.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $2.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $298.99. 302,822 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,092,008. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.37. The firm has a market cap of $82.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $232.29 and a 52 week high of $309.97.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.89% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.31%.

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.