Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 1,789 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,143 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,789 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after buying an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $279.00 to $276.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $300.06.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $254.84 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.01 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $265.06 and a 200-day moving average of $285.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 EPS for the current year.

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 $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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