Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,894 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,308 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $603,813,000 after acquiring an additional 58,524 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Rayha sold 4,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $348.79, for a total value of $1,524,212.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,767,997.44. This represents a 35.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,260 shares of company stock worth $18,133,971. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $343.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $93.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $267.39 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $345.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $346.78.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a $1.59 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GD. Argus boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $420.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $388.20.

General Dynamics Company 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.