Martingale Asset Management L P Reduces Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Martingale Asset Management L P trimmed its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 15.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,625 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 14,580 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $24,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GD. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,829,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,366,124,000 after acquiring an additional 189,904 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 0.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,940,537 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,493,030,000 after purchasing an additional 24,464 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 1.2% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,178,460 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,262,731,000 after purchasing an additional 49,397 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $601,756,000 after buying an additional 47,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,606,289 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $466,049,000 after buying an additional 23,304 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,515.60. This trade represents a 26.87 % 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 corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $282.31 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $298.62 and a 200-day moving average of $295.63. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $243.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $77.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The company had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $333.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.69.

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.