Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 3,219 Shares of General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its holdings in General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,704 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 3,219 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $14,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the second quarter valued at about $6,840,590,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in General Dynamics in the second quarter worth about $2,603,527,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,986,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $429,073,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $224,983,000. 86.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GD. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $420.00 to $380.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $384.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $395.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of General Dynamics in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Dynamics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Dynamics

In other news, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 45,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.42, for a total transaction of $16,391,481.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 766,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,012,888.94. The trade was a 5.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert K. Steel sold 7,440 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.05, for a total value of $2,574,612.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,370.80. This represents a 70.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:GD opened at $363.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.30. General Dynamics Corporation has a 1-year low of $306.77 and a 1-year high of $400.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $349.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.06.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The aerospace company reported $4.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.12 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $14.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.72 billion. General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 8.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Corporation will post 17.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is an aerospace and defense company that develops and manufactures products and provides services for commercial, government and military customers. Its businesses span aerospace, marine systems, combat systems and defense technologies. The company makes Gulfstream business jets and provides aircraft services. Its marine systems operations design and build submarines and surface ships, while its combat systems business produces military vehicles, weapons systems and munitions.