Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Lowers Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lessened its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,799 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics accounts for approximately 1.2% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 6.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 687 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,846 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 2,706 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,013 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 40.4% in the 3rd quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $279.79. The stock had a trading volume of 290,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,747. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $76.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $284.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $269.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $251.11.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.93%.

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.