General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Position Boosted by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,361 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,428,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $639,923,000 after acquiring an additional 232,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in General Dynamics by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 351,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $92,598,000 after purchasing an additional 195,476 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’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 value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GD. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.82.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD opened at $276.66 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $316.90. 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 capitalization of $74.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $259.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.77.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.