General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Acquired by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,724 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,811 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $11,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after acquiring an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,496,939,000 after acquiring an additional 131,268 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after acquiring an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $773,355,000 after purchasing an additional 145,978 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE GD traded down $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $274.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 835,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,257. 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 capitalization of $73.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $271.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $267.91. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS 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 analysts' expectations 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 was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics's payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GD. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. 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. Barclays decreased 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

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.