B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 1,235 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,235 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,133,000 after buying an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $177,881,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GD. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $266.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $291.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.32. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.36 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $73.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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

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.