Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $307,000 Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,182 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,423,961 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,955,023,000 after acquiring an additional 133,061 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 12.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,360,526 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,615,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,276 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,228,831 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $962,711,000 after buying an additional 259,855 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,017,057 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $887,649,000 after buying an additional 17,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,622,031 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $650,552,000 after acquiring an additional 282,436 shares in the last quarter. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 3rd. Alembic Global Advisors cut shares of General Dynamics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $296.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $286.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on General Dynamics from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.79.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1 %

GD opened at $284.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $202.35 and a 1-year high of $296.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $277.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.21. The company has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.68.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.68 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.39 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.84% and a return on equity of 16.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.58 EPS. Analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.32. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.25%.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,502,023.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Mark C. Roualet sold 73,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.75, for a total value of $19,414,117.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 149,205 shares in the company, valued at $39,502,023.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.31, for a total transaction of $8,551,750.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 773,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,569,860.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.