General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,659 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $22,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 385.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Barclays increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $283.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.19.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction 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 represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $263.09. 230,565 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,164,984. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $281.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.83. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm 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%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.