Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 1,490 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,720 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,490 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,825 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 2,668 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,290,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $339,856,000 after acquiring an additional 252,107 shares during the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 7,721 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Canal Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 21,598 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $5,691,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GD. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of General Dynamics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $315.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $294.47.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $274.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm's fifty day moving average is $262.54 and its 200 day moving average is $272.52.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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