ARS Investment Partners LLC Sells 80 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

ARS Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,502 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 69.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD opened at $266.86 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $272.86 and a 200 day moving average of $288.21. The company has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.53.

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.