Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Cuts Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 60.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,316 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 8,154 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Joule Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 705 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,889 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,993,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.6% in the third quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 1,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 65.2% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 76 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 978 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $387.00 to $377.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $343.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $92.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.10 and a 52-week high of $369.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $341.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.48.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.66 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.