Virtu Financial LLC Sells 10,980 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Virtu Financial LLC cut its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,841 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,980 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 31.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 496 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,043 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 0.7% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 87,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,471,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 265,962 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $77,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $283.00 to $245.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. This represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $263.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $291.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $293.70. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.26%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About General Dynamics

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.