Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Trims Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $416,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2,189.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 374,207 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,572,000 after acquiring an additional 357,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GD. Susquehanna reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $315.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised General Dynamics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $295.00 to $279.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.53.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $266.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $247.36 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $73.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $272.86 and a 200-day moving average of $288.17.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

About General Dynamics

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.