Rhumbline Advisers Sells 17,053 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498,920 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 17,053 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.19% of General Dynamics worth $135,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GD. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 15.3% in the fourth 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 4th quarter worth approximately $607,000. Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $692,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $550,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in General Dynamics by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 80,565 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. TD Securities raised their price objective 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. Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:GD traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $274.25. The stock had a trading volume of 870,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,719. 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 Co. has a one year low of $239.20 and a one year high of $316.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $272.64 and its 200-day moving average is $266.74. The company has a market cap of $73.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics's dividend payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.