General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,013,581 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 80,228 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $267,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Numerai GP LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $3,029,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $1,413,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in General Dynamics by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 9,696 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners raised its position in General Dynamics by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 973 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in General Dynamics by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 243,730 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $64,220,000 after acquiring an additional 67,167 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of GD stock opened at $270.66 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $72.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $269.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.35. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.20 and a 1-year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. General Dynamics’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. William Blair cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.00.

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.