Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Has $1.04 Million Position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC cut its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,812 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after buying an additional 463,497 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after buying an additional 131,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after buying an additional 33,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in General Dynamics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 178,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.13, for a total value of $50,629,589.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 769,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,898,829.91. This represents a 18.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $278.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $74.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $275.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $266.45. General Dynamics Corporation has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 17.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.