Financial & Tax Architects LLC Trims Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 92.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,518 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 17,820 shares during the quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after buying an additional 24,464 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE GD traded down $1.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $266.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,543,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,689. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.36 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $73.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.32.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

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

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.53.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.