Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 352,986 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 22,072 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of General Dynamics worth $91,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 worth $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 10,763.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 923,593 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $239,829,000 after purchasing an additional 915,091 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 55.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 806,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $178,304,000 after purchasing an additional 286,928 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,293,269 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $506,744,000 after purchasing an additional 275,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 12.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,763,878 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,110,000 after purchasing an additional 198,185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $293.43.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD traded down $0.49 on Friday, reaching $284.41. 1,244,205 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,231,567. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The firm has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $280.86 and a 200-day moving average of $261.88.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The aerospace company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors 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 2.00%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

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.