General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Aspiriant LLC

Aspiriant LLC reduced its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,132 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on 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. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:GD opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $272.86 and a 200-day moving average of $288.21. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $247.36 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted 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 company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current 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 $1.42 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.