Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,013,581 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 80,228 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.37% of General Dynamics worth $267,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on General Dynamics from $268.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.00.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was 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 link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GD traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $280.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,173,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,364. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $239.20 and a 52 week high of $316.90. The stock has a market cap of $75.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company's fifty day moving average price is $269.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $12.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. 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 payout ratio 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.