EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 3,734 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,517 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 3,734 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $3,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $252,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $764,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,173 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $27,449,000 after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE GD traded up $4.89 on Monday, hitting $276.45. 1,157,890 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,369,442. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $268.82 and a 200-day moving average of $269.50. The company has a market cap of $74.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.00.

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.