Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Has $8 Million Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,251 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup cut their target price on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.5 %

GD stock opened at $260.21 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $257.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $279.30.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

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.