Sit Investment Associates Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 61.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,372 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 30,656 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 163 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 10,279 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,708,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

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General Dynamics Trading Up 1.6 %

GD stock traded up $4.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $274.72. The company had a trading volume of 552,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,342,698. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $259.10 and a 200 day moving average of $273.94. 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 company has a market cap of $73.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

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, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GD. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $296.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.