Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 3,620 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,394 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 3,620 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,205,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,292,851,000 after buying an additional 109,618 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after purchasing an additional 189,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,493,030,000 after acquiring an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE GD traded up $1.73 on Tuesday, hitting $267.61. The stock had a trading volume of 911,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,400. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $258.54 and a 200-day moving average of $277.45. The company has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.87 and a 52-week high of $316.90.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $283.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.