Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,884 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 1,485 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $31,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $692,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 261,992 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $69,032,000 after buying an additional 107,095 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $550,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, 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 owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair cut 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 price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research cut General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $244.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD traded up $1.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $267.61. 911,939 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,400. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $258.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

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.