Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 297,577 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 44,387 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of General Dynamics worth $89,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 79.6% in the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 4,685 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 34.4% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 2,645 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,606,289 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $466,049,000 after buying an additional 23,304 shares during the period. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its position in General Dynamics by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 31,620 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $9,174,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,410 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on General Dynamics from $322.00 to $295.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.88.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock traded up $3.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $263.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,524,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,493. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $288.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $72.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. General Dynamics's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.26%.

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.