General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 186,465 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 13,305 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $62,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,236,900,000 after purchasing an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $603,813,000 after purchasing an additional 58,524 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of GD stock opened at $346.47 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $340.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.54. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.03%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total transaction of $1,350,016.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,825,134.50. This trade represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,457,677.75. This trade represents a 48.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GD. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus raised their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $387.40.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.