Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 624 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 199,731 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $52,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 4th 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. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $268.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $258.73 and a 200-day moving average of $276.94.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.71.

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.