Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $7.91 Million Position in General Dynamics Corporation $GD

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 23,506 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,914,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,330 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,338,169,000 after acquiring an additional 528,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,627,155 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,236,900,000 after acquiring an additional 187,435 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 35.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,917 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,136,525,000 after acquiring an additional 863,392 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,770,714 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $603,813,000 after acquiring an additional 58,524 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 118.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,663,847 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $567,372,000 after acquiring an additional 901,679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Performance

GD stock opened at $343.20 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $341.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $346.51. General Dynamics Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $268.10 and a fifty-two week high of $369.70. The company has a market capitalization of $92.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.34.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.43. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $13.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.66 earnings per share. General Dynamics’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that General Dynamics Corporation will post 16.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Dynamics news, EVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 3,819 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.50, for a total value of $1,350,016.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,825,134.50. The trade was a 7.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 32,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.09, for a total transaction of $11,655,934.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 766,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,394,759.13. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 119,600 shares of company stock worth $41,650,580. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus upped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $385.00 price objective on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $385.00 to $380.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $380.00 to $364.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of General Dynamics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $387.40.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics is a major American aerospace and defense contractor that designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of products and services for government and commercial customers worldwide. Headquartered in the United States (Reston, Virginia), the company supplies platforms and systems used by armed forces, civil authorities and private operators across multiple domains including air, land, sea and cyber.

Its principal activities span several operating businesses: a business aviation unit that develops and supports Gulfstream business jets; land systems that produce armored combat vehicles and related logistics and sustainment services; marine systems that design and construct submarines and surface ships for navies; and mission systems and information technology operations that provide command-and-control, communications, cybersecurity and systems-integration services.