General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Holdings Lifted by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,566 shares of the aerospace company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $18,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents 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 the SEC website. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded up $6.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $272.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,834,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,768. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $263.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.47. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $73.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm 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. 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 dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.83.

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.