Perennial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Perennial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. General Dynamics makes up approximately 1.3% of Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Perennial Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $6,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in General Dynamics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $6,265,813,000 after purchasing an additional 706,317 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in General Dynamics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,734,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,774,381,000 after purchasing an additional 463,497 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,688,672 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,496,939,000 after purchasing an additional 131,268 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in General Dynamics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,212,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,109,931,000 after purchasing an additional 33,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,935,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $773,355,000 after buying an additional 145,978 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of GD stock opened at $276.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.62. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $239.20 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.23. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $12.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total value of $7,499,895.82. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair downgraded General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BTIG Research downgraded General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus set a $295.00 target price on General Dynamics in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.00.

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.