Shell Asset Management Co. Acquires 2,436 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 149.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,061 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $279,582,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $197,238,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In related 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 value 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 $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on GD shares. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded down $3.85 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $277.72. The stock had a trading volume of 997,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,819. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $239.20 and a 1 year high of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $270.53 and a 200 day moving average of $268.66. The company has a market cap of $74.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

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. 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost 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 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.