General Dynamics Corporation $GD Shares Sold by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners cut its General Dynamics stake by 10% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,871 shares and leaving it with 89,316 shares valued at about $30.1 million.
• General Dynamics reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $4.10 per share and revenue of $13.48 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations and up 10.3% from a year earlier.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, payable Aug. 7, and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $388.40.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,316 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 9,871 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $30,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $8,338,169,000 after purchasing an additional 528,769 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,323,170 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $3,812,058,000 after purchasing an additional 294,456 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Dynamics by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,065,462 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $2,039,742,000 after purchasing an additional 195,604 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 worth $1,786,786,000 after purchasing an additional 114,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in General Dynamics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,236,900,000 after purchasing an additional 187,435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark Lagrand Burns sold 36,480 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.29, for a total value of $12,596,179.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,457,677.75. The trade was a 48.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GD opened at $359.92 on Monday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $340.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.65. General Dynamics Corporation has a 52 week low of $275.49 and a 52 week high of $369.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 8.07%.The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.66 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. General Dynamics's payout ratio is 40.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $430.00 to $390.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group raised General Dynamics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $388.40.

General Dynamics Profile

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.

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