Man Group plc Sells 62,975 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Man Group plc decreased its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 60.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,014 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 62,975 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,689 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $692,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $550,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in General Dynamics by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 80,565 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $21,228,000 after acquiring an additional 25,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE:GD traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $276.77. 1,034,785 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,473. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $270.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.20 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. This represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.