AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 106,849 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 455,460 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 106,849 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of General Dynamics worth $120,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Dynamics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after buying an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,290,344 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $339,856,000 after acquiring an additional 252,107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GD. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Vertical Research downgraded General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $292.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $271.95 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $72.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.58. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.