Korea Investment CORP Has $44.62 Million Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 41.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,353 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,467 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $44,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 3.5% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 39,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $12,049,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,344 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,470,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,322 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $20,345,000 after acquiring an additional 5,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $269.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.17. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.87 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side 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 will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on GD shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $283.00 price objective (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % 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 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.