Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $7.15 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,143 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 178 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,482 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 354 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,223 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 955 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $354.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $300.06.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $254.84 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $247.01 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $70.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $265.06 and its 200-day moving average is $285.87.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 41.64%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

About General Dynamics

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.