Main Street Research LLC Decreases Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Main Street Research LLC decreased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,393 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,701 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $23,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 99.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after buying an additional 14,468 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 17.1% in the third quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the period. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $72,063,000 after purchasing an additional 119,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $285.37. 413,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,065,815. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.92. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $202.35 and a 1 year high of $296.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $277.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.21. The company has a market capitalization of $78.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.