Barclays PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Barclays PLC lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 579,641 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 362,844 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.21% of General Dynamics worth $152,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD opened at $278.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $259.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.43. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The firm has a market cap of $74.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

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.