Boston Partners Sells 233,773 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Boston Partners lowered its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,201,960 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 233,773 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.44% of General Dynamics worth $317,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $265.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $258.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $278.54. General Dynamics Co. has a one year low of $239.87 and a one year high of $316.90.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the aerospace company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics 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 value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.