Capital Research Global Investors Trims Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Capital Research Global Investors trimmed its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,694,127 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 1,168,249 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 2.11% of General Dynamics worth $1,916,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Sarl acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $1,231,000. Valtrion Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Valtrion Capital Management LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,343 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,401 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Havemeyer Place LP acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $107,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $346.43 on Friday. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $268.10 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The company has a market cap of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $340.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.31.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.