General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) Shares Acquired by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 270,775 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of General Dynamics worth $71,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $360.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $271.92 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $257.97 and a 200-day moving average of $279.63. The firm has a market cap of $73.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. 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 is currently 43.99%.

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.