Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 515,973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,981 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $135,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $416,876,000 after buying an additional 1,376,065 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after buying an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after buying an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake 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 worth $259,469,000 after buying an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 43.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after buying an additional 283,972 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W downgraded General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven 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 “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $241.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $261.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $284.25. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. Equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.64%.

General Dynamics 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.