Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 444 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,390 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 444 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $2,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 1.8% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter worth $2,415,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 96.7% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 8,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 4,273 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in General Dynamics by 1.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 870,968 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $252,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in General Dynamics by 10.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 123,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $35,715,000 after purchasing an additional 12,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $307.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.34. General Dynamics Co. has a 52 week low of $214.53 and a 52 week high of $309.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The aerospace company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.30 by ($0.04). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 7.89%. The company had revenue of $11.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is presently 46.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.06.

General Dynamics Company 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.