Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 29.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,216 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,715 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 99.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $7,542,000 after acquiring an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $72,063,000 after purchasing an additional 119,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $283.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Alembic Global Advisors downgraded General Dynamics from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $296.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $278.08.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4 %

GD traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $289.98. 935,277 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,068. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $276.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $256.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.93%.

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.