Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $41.73 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 147,736 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $41,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.1% in the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,299 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 287 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,773,956.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,816,065.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock valued at $34,391,642. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.24.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $292.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 773,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,044,919. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $209.25 and a 12-month high of $302.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $294.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $80.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.64.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.64 EPS. General Dynamics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

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.