Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $44.07 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,704 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 10,885 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.06% of General Dynamics worth $44,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total value of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,589,184. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Leon Rudy F. De sold 2,570 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.00, for a total transaction of $740,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,518 shares in the company, valued at $1,589,184. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 49,850 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.50, for a total transaction of $14,182,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 768,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,773,956.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,486 shares of company stock worth $34,391,642 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Dynamics from $280.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised General Dynamics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $305.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $300.63.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock traded up $3.10 on Friday, reaching $299.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 784,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,608. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $289.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $202.35 and a 12-month high of $301.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company has a market capitalization of $82.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.67.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released 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). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.