Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 1,618 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,038,598 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,618 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of General Dynamics worth $538,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth 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 lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 7.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 463,497 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 33,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,606,137 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $686,691,000 after buying an additional 103,870 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents 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 hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.4 %

General Dynamics stock traded down $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $269.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 861,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,366,271. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $268.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.44. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month 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 company has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 41.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on GD shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $283.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics has an average 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.