Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $406.50 Million Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,542,745 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,696 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.56% of General Dynamics worth $406,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at $393,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,892,000. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the third quarter valued at about $20,667,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on 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 reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $283.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $294.47.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD opened at $275.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $261.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% 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.