General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,024 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 17,313 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of General Dynamics worth $65,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 51,635 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $13,605,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 7,049 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 20,026 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,277,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 22,832 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,016,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $265.56. 1,251,450 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,240,063. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $258.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.25. The firm has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.