Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 381 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,252 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 381 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GD. Wolfe Research lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $290.00 to $280.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $297.71.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

NYSE GD opened at $268.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Dynamics Co. has a 1-year low of $239.87 and a 1-year high of $316.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $258.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 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 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.99%.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the aerospace company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.