Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,542,745 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,696 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.56% of General Dynamics worth $406,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

General Dynamics Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $8.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $265.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,245,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,933. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $71.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $262.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $272.52.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $294.47.

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.