Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 522 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,212 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 522 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $8,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,292,851,000 after purchasing an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,580,000 after buying an additional 59,944 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $268.99 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $72.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.73 and a 200-day moving average of $276.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GD. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $297.71.

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.