Atria Investments Inc Sells 3,029 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Atria Investments Inc lowered its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,618 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,029 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its position in General Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,554,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $257.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.27. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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 (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.