Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. Trims Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,428 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,420 shares during the period. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 48.9% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 29,705 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,827,000 after acquiring an additional 9,759 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 87,676 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $23,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,115 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,915,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

General Dynamics stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $242.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,113,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,067. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. 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's 50 day moving average is $261.40 and its 200 day moving average is $283.72. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Company 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.