Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 95,349 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,485,242 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,349 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.54% of General Dynamics worth $430,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of General Dynamics by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,639,758 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,216,599,000 after acquiring an additional 293,316 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,351,041,000 after buying an additional 115,063 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,164,857 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,081,488,000 after buying an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics in the 4th quarter valued at about $728,284,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $592,764,000 after buying an additional 24,395 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GD stock opened at $307.56 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $290.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.80. General Dynamics Co. has a 1 year low of $214.53 and a 1 year high of $309.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61.

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

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 46.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $345.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.06.

About General Dynamics

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.