General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,290,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 252,107 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.47% of General Dynamics worth $339,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $393,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,892,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,667,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $272.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 947,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,362,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $263.62 and a 200-day moving average of $272.30. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $73.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock 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, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $293.83.

General Dynamics Company 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.