Sanders Capital LLC Purchases 49,397 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD - Free Report) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,178,460 shares of the aerospace company's stock after buying an additional 49,397 shares during the quarter. General Dynamics comprises approximately 1.8% of Sanders Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 1.52% of General Dynamics worth $1,262,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,546 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 15,000 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $4,533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,074 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 10,368 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $3,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 588,619 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $177,881,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GD shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $343.00 to $331.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded General Dynamics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on General Dynamics from $331.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on General Dynamics from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on General Dynamics from $309.00 to $306.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $323.69.

General Dynamics Trading Up 0.2 %

General Dynamics stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $282.01. 1,095,164 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,114,180. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $299.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.82. General Dynamics Co. has a twelve month low of $243.87 and a twelve month high of $316.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $11.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 16.59% and a net margin of 7.90%. The business's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that General Dynamics Co. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter A. Wall sold 1,320 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.05, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 26.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.