Barclays PLC Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.34% of General Dynamics worth $284,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares during the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% in the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,533,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $11,204,000 after buying an additional 3,363 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its stake in General Dynamics by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,551 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $177,881,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 2.5 %

General Dynamics stock traded down $6.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $263.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,188,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,962. The company has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business's 50 day moving average price is $268.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $287.64. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $257.26 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group reduced 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.28.

General Dynamics 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.