Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,054,490 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 372,671 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.38% of General Dynamics worth $277,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

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General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded up $1.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $278.30. 266,791 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,345,186. The stock has a market cap of $74.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a PEG 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 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $259.48 and its 200-day moving average is $273.58.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered 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 report on Monday, January 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.82.

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.