Prudential Financial Inc. Has $39.48 Million Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,816 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 222,715 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of General Dynamics worth $39,475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 4.2% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

GD traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $268.99. The company had a trading volume of 1,240,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,316,521. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $258.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $276.60. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $72.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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 (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 43.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GD. UBS Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.71.

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.