Primecap Management Co. CA Reduces Stock Position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 11.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 602,840 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 76,910 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $164,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 34,578.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,244,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $339,253,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241,011 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $279,582,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake 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 worth $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6,387.2% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 401,236 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $105,722,000 after buying an additional 395,051 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,290,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $339,856,000 after buying an additional 252,107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised General Dynamics from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $360.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $348.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $298.00 to $342.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.81, for a total value of $1,717,326.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,137.23. This trade represents a 50.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 7,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.44, for a total value of $2,142,281.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 769,607 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,828,587.08. The trade was a 0.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 268,370 shares of company stock valued at $78,408,011. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $315.12 on Thursday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $322.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $293.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.47 by $0.27. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $13.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.27%.

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.