General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,192 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 99.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after buying an additional 14,468 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at $16,077,000. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter valued at about $26,868,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $72,063,000 after purchasing an additional 119,264 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 262.5% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,229 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after buying an additional 16,821 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $287.79 on Tuesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The company has a market capitalization of $78.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $281.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. 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 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

General Dynamics 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.