Apella Capital LLC Sells 541 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Apella Capital LLC cut its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,303 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 67.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $69,032,000 after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the period. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP lifted its position in General Dynamics by 32.6% during the third quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $264.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. 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 market cap of $72.84 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $275.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.53.

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.