Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $20.10 Million Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,282 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 12,541 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $20,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GD. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 43,596 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $11,488,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 553,436 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $145,825,000 after purchasing an additional 244,198 shares during the last quarter. Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 139,932 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $36,871,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,825 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GD. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given 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 "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics 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 transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.1 %

GD traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $271.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,029,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,370,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $239.20 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a market cap of $72.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.91, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $268.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.72.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. 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.