Good Life Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Good Life Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 51.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,532 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 4,840 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.59.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.1 %

GD traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.39. 1,295,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company's fifty day moving average price is $260.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $282.84. The company has a market cap of $65.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS 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, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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.