General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Holdings Trimmed by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 24,452 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,403,000 after purchasing an additional 2,632 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,147 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $9,313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 12,801 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,843,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,298 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total value of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,816,065.95. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Gregory S. Gallopoulos sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.51, for a total transaction of $3,914,215.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 103,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,816,065.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,589,184. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,987 shares of company stock valued at $18,836,700. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD opened at $292.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $80.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.67. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $283.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.53.

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.