Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,558 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 6,999 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $297.12.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $1.28 on Thursday, hitting $272.80. 342,260 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,717,627. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $258.79 and a 200-day moving average of $274.17. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $73.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

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.