Man Group plc Decreases Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Man Group plc decreased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 60.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,014 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 62,975 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $686,691,000 after purchasing an additional 103,870 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on 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. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Argus set a $295.00 price target on General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Up 0.7%

GD stock opened at $280.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $75.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $269.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

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.