General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,117 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,081,488,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in General Dynamics by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $284.88 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $211.94 and a fifty-two week high of $302.75. The firm has a market cap of $78.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $294.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. Argus upped their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $305.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP William A. Moss sold 21,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.85, for a total value of $6,206,592.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 16,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,901,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total value of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 768,977 shares in the company, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.