Brookstone Capital Management Sells 4,710 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Brookstone Capital Management decreased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,410 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,710 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 9.9% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,022 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 6.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,485,242 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $430,928,000 after acquiring an additional 95,349 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.7% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 23,568 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,685 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value 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. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $304.53.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $265.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,013,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,394,579. The company's 50-day moving average price is $275.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.61. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $247.36 and a one year high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $73.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 43.26%.

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.