Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Trims Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,670 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $6,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 99.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,045 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,542,000 after purchasing an additional 14,468 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the third quarter worth about $16,077,000. Moreno Evelyn V lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 17.1% during the third quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 27,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,868,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,121 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $72,063,000 after acquiring an additional 119,264 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.2 %

GD stock opened at $284.41 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $202.35 and a fifty-two week high of $296.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $280.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization 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.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its 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 return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 46.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the company’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 value of $8,551,750.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $325.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Alembic Global Advisors lowered General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $301.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $293.43.

General Dynamics Company 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.