WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC Boosts Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC increased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics comprises approximately 1.3% of WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. WESPAC Advisors SoCal LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $108,572,000 after buying an additional 357,861 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 879.9% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 340,359 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $96,148,000 after buying an additional 305,624 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,216,599,000 after buying an additional 293,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 24.2% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,347,247 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $391,119,000 after acquiring an additional 262,164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. The trade was a 26.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

General Dynamics stock opened at $287.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $243.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $302.45 and its 200 day moving average is $296.27.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.98 EPS for the current year.

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.