Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,813 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 2,084 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.88.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

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

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of GD traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $271.74. 1,319,910 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,360,572. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.59. The company has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.92 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 41.61%.

General Dynamics Company 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.