Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 107,095 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 69.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107,095 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $69,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 17.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 297,577 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $89,928,000 after purchasing an additional 44,387 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other 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 owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $259.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $276.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $289.08. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $247.36 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.18.

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.