Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,820 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $21,815,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 103.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,544,906 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,005,561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,118 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,430,036 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $537,646,000 after purchasing an additional 100,963 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,411,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $312,273,000 after purchasing an additional 337,999 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,288,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $310,753,000 after acquiring an additional 29,013 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in General Dynamics by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,256,450 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $277,990,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.83% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $235.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.41. The company has a market cap of $64.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.88. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $200.79 and a 12-month high of $256.86.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.16 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $9.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.93 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 8.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 19th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup began coverage on General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $298.00 target price on the stock. Cowen lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $260.00 to $285.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.64.

General Dynamics Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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 designs, manufactures, and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, charter, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.