Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Purchases New Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,165,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after buying an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $393,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $3,892,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $20,667,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $294.47.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $275.70. The company had a trading volume of 1,721,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,361,597. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $272.70. The firm has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 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%. Equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business'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 directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.