Twin Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Twin Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,075 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,615,185,000 after buying an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,711,000 after purchasing an additional 259,855 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $887,649,000 after purchasing an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,622,031 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $650,552,000 after purchasing an additional 282,436 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total transaction of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $285.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $278.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $259.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $78.27 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $202.35 and a one year high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 47.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Susquehanna raised their price target on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.80.

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.