Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,224 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,798,000. Miramar Capital LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 38,745 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $528,000. Amundi increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 211.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 99,740 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,079,000 after purchasing an additional 67,712 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 2,667 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 2.7 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $271.82 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $257.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.88. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company 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 2.21%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.