Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 485 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,545 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $5,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after purchasing an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $962,711,000 after purchasing an additional 259,855 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $887,649,000 after purchasing an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,622,031 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $650,552,000 after purchasing an additional 282,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total value of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $288.62 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $279.07 and a 200 day moving average of $260.04. The stock has a market cap of $79.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $202.35 and a 12 month high of $296.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.58 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $253.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.80.

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.