General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. trimmed its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,825 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,276 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $239,829,000 after buying an additional 915,091 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in General Dynamics by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 806,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $178,304,000 after buying an additional 286,928 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $506,744,000 after buying an additional 275,947 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in General Dynamics by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,110,000 after buying an additional 198,185 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $291.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $285.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $284.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $280.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.71. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $296.50.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

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.