Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 237 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,648 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $10,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 valued at $2,216,599,000 after acquiring an additional 293,316 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,782,612 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,351,041,000 after purchasing an additional 115,063 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in General Dynamics by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,282,757 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $592,764,000 after buying an additional 24,395 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in General Dynamics by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,071,803 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $601,756,000 after buying an additional 47,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,680,666 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $474,927,000 after buying an additional 23,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Dynamics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $293.00 to $345.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. BTIG Research initiated 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 target price on shares of General Dynamics from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 price target on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $317.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total transaction of $406,626.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,515.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

Shares of GD stock opened at $305.32 on Wednesday. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $214.53 and a 12 month high of $309.97. 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 company has a market cap of $83.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $296.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.64.

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

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.42 per share. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.33%.

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.