Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Makes New Investment in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,253,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DNB Asset Management AS purchased a new stake in General Dynamics during the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter worth $37,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 13.6% during the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,570 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 6.6% in the second quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 8,645 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,508,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 7,438 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. 86.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $276.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $75.98 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.60. General Dynamics Co. has a 52-week low of $247.36 and a 52-week high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The aerospace company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $11.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.90% and a return on equity of 16.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,701,349.36. This represents a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,515.60. This represents a 26.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Dynamics from $317.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.69.

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.