Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 4,681 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,196 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 4,681 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $26,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,780,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,265,813,000 after acquiring an additional 706,317 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of General Dynamics by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,428,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $639,923,000 after buying an additional 232,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,706,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,580,000 after buying an additional 59,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $303.00 to $295.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BTIG Research lowered General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W cut shares of General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $294.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at $2,857,224. This trade represents a 13.85 % decrease in their position. 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 that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Dynamics Price Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $275.70 on Friday. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $239.20 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $261.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.88. The company has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.43.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is 43.99%.

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.