Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 488 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 325.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 638 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,056,000. Gladstone Capital Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $3,869,000. SWP Financial LLC bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the fourth quarter worth $28,107,000. 86.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GD. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $315.06.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $294.92 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $214.53 and a 1 year high of $302.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $290.65 and its 200-day moving average is $288.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.60.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 1.93%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

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.