General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,346 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,071 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 17.5% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 894 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 10.8% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,974 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in General Dynamics by 10.6% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,581 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 124.0% during the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 5,536 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,516,000 after buying an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 15.9% in the first quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Dynamics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $312.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at $217,898,829.91. This trade represents a 18.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $313.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,218,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,632. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $287.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.36. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $322.50. The stock has a market cap of $84.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.46.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $13.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.26 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 40.27%.

General Dynamics Company 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.