Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Holdings in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Key Points

• Nomura Asset Management cut its stake in General Dynamics by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,305 shares and ending with 186,465 shares worth about $62.8 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.10 beating estimates by $0.43 and revenue of $13.48 billion topping forecasts, while sales rose 10.3% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.59 per share from $1.50, and analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $387.40.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 186,465 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 13,305 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of General Dynamics worth $62,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,885 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 140.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,445 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $240,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $352,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 2nd quarter worth $1,284,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at $13,457,677.75. This represents a 48.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,650,580. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $346.47 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 12-month low of $268.10 and a 12-month high of $369.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $340.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.54.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $1.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $384.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $327.00 to $313.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.40.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.

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