Atria Investments Inc Cuts Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Atria Investments Inc lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,618 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,029 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake 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 valued at $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $276.00 to $244.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $262.94 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $257.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $280.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $71.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.