Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 30.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 763 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after acquiring an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 117.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,366,124,000 after buying an additional 189,904 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $249.83 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $258.97 and its 200 day moving average is $281.88.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.59.

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.