General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 41.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,306,468 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,898,862 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,188,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 58,787 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,490,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Holowesko Partners Ltd. increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Holowesko Partners Ltd. now owns 59,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $15,788,000 after buying an additional 16,400 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in General Dynamics by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. United Bank now owns 6,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 22,335 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,885,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 23,282 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,135,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $268.99 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $258.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $72.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.99%.

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.