J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,417 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,948 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 6,808 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,983,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 463,447 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $140,054,000 after acquiring an additional 22,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $241.98 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $261.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $284.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

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.