Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 4,791 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,883 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,791 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $7,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 40,389.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,379,472 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $416,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376,065 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after purchasing an additional 638,342 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $259,469,000 after purchasing an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $284,818,000 after purchasing an additional 283,972 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. This trade represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GD. UBS Group reduced their target price on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Baird R W lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Dynamics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.71.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $251.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $268.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $287.48. General Dynamics Co. has a 12-month low of $247.01 and a 12-month high of $316.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.26%.

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.