Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,884 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $31,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 5,461 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,012 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.9 %

General Dynamics stock opened at $265.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.87 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $258.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.16.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share (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, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.