Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 41.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,306,468 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 5,898,862 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 3.07% of General Dynamics worth $2,188,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GD. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GD. William Blair cut General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Vertical Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $298.59.

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Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm'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 approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock traded down $13.16 on Friday, reaching $256.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 705,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,667,097. 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 company has a market capitalization of $68.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $259.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.14. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.87 and a 52 week high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. Equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's payout ratio is presently 43.99%.

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.