Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $9.89 Million Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,543 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 1,402 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in General Dynamics were worth $9,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $857,000. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $602,000. Widmann Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $219,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in General Dynamics by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,819 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Boyar Asset Management Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Baird R W lowered General Dynamics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $261.00 to $236.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of General Dynamics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.88.

General Dynamics Price Performance

GD traded down $1.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $270.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 990,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,688. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $267.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $270.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.20 and a 12 month high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. The firm 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%. General Dynamics's revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics's previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. 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.