Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,251 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $692,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $550,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in General Dynamics by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 80,565 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $21,228,000 after buying an additional 25,144 shares during the period. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 79,450 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $20,934,000 after acquiring an additional 12,453 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $4.04 on Monday, reaching $278.96. 925,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,534,103. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $74.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.46.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.