Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 2,965 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its stake in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,113 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,965 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $53,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,039,742,000 after buying an additional 195,604 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,307,389 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,786,786,000 after acquiring an additional 114,647 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,236,900,000 after acquiring an additional 187,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after purchasing an additional 863,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on General Dynamics from $410.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total value of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 44,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,825,134.50. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $346.43 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $340.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.34. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1 year low of $268.10 and a 1 year high of $369.70.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.66 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 EPS for the current year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 40.03%.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.